System and Method for Dynamic Coordination of Radio Resources Usage in a Wireless Network Environment

ABSTRACT

An architecture, system and associated method for dynamic coordination of radio resource usage in a network environment. In one aspect, a method of processing sensory reports of one or more sensing elements in a radio network comprises receiving a sensory report from a sensing element operating in multiple radio access technologies, the sensory report including sensory data associated with multiple radio channels relative to at least one radio element; identifying the sensing element&#39;s identity and determining if the sensory report has been tagged with a code generated by a predetermined code generator; responsive to the identifying and the determining, authenticating the sensory report; and correlating the sensory report from the sensing element with at least one of one or more previous sensory reports from the sensing element and one or more previous sensory reports received from another sensing element.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) & CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application, being filed pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §111(a), is acontinuation and claims the benefit of, and priority, under 35 U.S.C.§§120 and 365(c), to International Application No. PCT/CA2011/050265,filed May 2, 2011 having the title “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICCOORDINATION OF RADIO RESOURCES USAGE IN A WIRELESS NETWORKENVIRONMENT”, which itself claims priority to International ApplicationNo. PCT/CA2010/001463, filed Sep. 23, 2010 having the title “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR DYNAMIC COORDINATION OF RADIO RESOURCES USAGE IN A WIRELESSNETWORK ENVIRONMENT”. The contents of the above-noted patentapplications are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into thedetailed description hereof. Additionally, this application disclosessubject matter related to the subject matter of the following U.S.patent application(s): (i) “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC COORDINATIONOF RADIO RESOURCES USAGE IN A WIRELESS NETWORK ENVIRONMENT” (Docket No.37006-US-CNT), application Ser. No. ______, filed even date herewith, inthe name(s) of Robert Novak, David Steer and Dongsheng Yu; and (ii)“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC COORDINATION OF RADIO RESOURCES USAGE INA WIRELESS NETWORK ENVIRONMENT” (Docket No. 37006-2-US-CNT), applicationSer. No. ______, filed even date herewith, in the name(s) of RobertNovak, David Steer and Dongsheng Yu; each of which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present patent disclosure generally relates to mobiletelecommunications networks. More particularly, and not by way of anylimitation, the present patent disclosure is directed to providingdynamic coordination of radio resource usage in a network environment.

BACKGROUND

In operation of mobile communications networks in spectra shared withother systems an ongoing issue relates to assigning channels among thediverse systems without interference. In the shared or pooled spectrum,for example, lightly licensed or “white space” bands, there may bemultiple networks, sources, and radio access technologies operating inthe same geographic location as well as time-frequency spectra. Further,some channels may be unused by some systems or become available in localgeographical locations at some times. Additionally, some channels mayalso be congested due to traffic or interference.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the embodiments of the present patentdisclosure may be had by reference to the following Detailed Descriptionwhen taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1A depicts an example radio network environment wherein radioresources may be managed in accordance with an embodiment of the presentpatent application;

FIG. 1B depicts an example radio network environment where channeloccupancy and location database (COLD) information may be deployed atone or more elements of the network environment in a distributedarchitecture for purposes of the present patent application;

FIG. 2A depicts an example LTE-based radio network having interactivitywith a database of sensory data (e.g., channel occupancy and locationinformation) in accordance with an embodiment of the present patentapplication;

FIG. 2B depicts a diagram of additional details pertaining to theexample network of FIG. 2A in one aspect;

FIG. 2C depicts a diagram of a protocol architecture relative to theexample network of FIG. 2A;

FIGS. 2D and 2E depict example frame structures operable with thenetwork of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2F depicts an example resource grid where resource elements may beallocated relative to the example network of FIG. 2A according to anembodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of an example wireless UE deviceaccording to one embodiment of the present patent application;

FIG. 4 is an example radio network scenario where a sensing element(e.g., a mobile communications device (MCD) or UE device) may beconfigured to sense radio resource conditions in both licensed andunlicensed wavelengths according to an embodiment of the present patentapplication;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are flowcharts of embodiments of a radio resourcemanagement, usage and allocation scheme of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6A is a diagrammatic representation of a sensory informationacquisition process according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6B is an example radio network scenario illustrative of a sensoryinformation reporting process by proxy according to one embodiment ofthe present patent application;

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic representation of a sensory informationacquisition process according to one embodiment wherein a network node(e.g., a base station) is operative as a sensing element;

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic representation illustrative of a network nodepassing requests for sensing to a UE device according to one embodimentof the present patent application;

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation that illustrates exchange ofcommands or messages relative to radio resource allocation in oneembodiment;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are a diagrammatic representation illustrative ofexemplary processes at an embodiment of a COLD server of the presentpatent application;

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic representation illustrative of exemplaryprocesses with respect to an embodiment of a distributed COLDarchitecture of the present patent application;

FIG. 12 is an arrangement illustrative of an example radio networkscenario where multiple sensing elements (e.g., UE devices and networknodes) interoperate in a distributed COLD environment; and

FIG. 13 is an arrangement illustrative of an example radio environmentwith multi-system mobile networks that may interoperate for purposes ofradio resources management according to an embodiment of the presentpatent application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present patent disclosure is broadly directed to providing dynamiccoordination of resource usage in a diverse radio network environment.Various network elements, e.g., user equipment (UE) devices, basestations, and other nodes are configured to operate as a sensor networkacross one or more radio access technologies (RATs) to improve theefficiency and capacity of a mobile communications network.

In one aspect, an embodiment of a radio resource management methodutilizing multiple RATs in a communications network is disclosed. Theclaimed embodiment comprises the following acts: scanning, by a sensingelement, multiple radio frequency spectra for detecting sensory dataassociated with multiple radio channels relative to a first radioelement; communicating the sensory data to a network node; and based onthe detected sensory data, allocating a radio resource to a second radioelement.

In another aspect, an embodiment of a radio resource management systemor apparatus is disclosed. The claimed embodiment comprises: a componentconfigured to receive sensory data from one or more sensing elementsoperating in multiple RATs and multiple radio frequency spectra; acomponent configured to process the sensory data received from the oneor more sensing elements; and a component configured to send a controlmessage, based on the processing, for effectuating allocation of a radioresource to at least one radio element operating in a radio networkenvironment.

In a further aspect, an embodiment of a wireless user equipment (UE)device is disclosed, wherein the claimed embodiment comprises: aprocessor configured to control at least one of a plurality ofsubsystems to scan multiple radio frequency spectra for detectingsensory data associated with multiple radio channels relative to one ormore radio elements; the processor further configured to control atleast one of the plurality of subsystems to generate a message forreporting at least a portion of the sensory data to at least networknode; and the processor further configured to control at least one ofthe plurality of subsystems to process a control message received fromone of the network nodes for facilitating allocation of a radio resourceto the wireless UE device.

In a further aspect, disclosed herein is an embodiment of method ofprocessing sensory reports of one or more sensing elements in adistributed channel occupancy and location database (COLD) system. Theclaimed embodiment comprises one or more of the following acts:receiving a sensory report from a sensing element operating in multipleRATs, the sensory report including sensory data associated with multipleradio channels relative to at least one radio element; identifying thesensing element's identity and determining if the sensory report hasbeen tagged with a code generated by a predetermined code generator;responsive to the identifying and the determining, authenticating thesensory report; and correlating the sensory report from the sensingelement with at least one of one or more previous sensory reports fromthe sensing element and one or more previous sensory reports receivedfrom another sensing element. In one implementation, another embodimentof a method of processing sensory reports of one or more sensingelements in a radio network comprises: receiving a sensory report from asensing element operating in multiple radio access technologies, thesensory report including sensory data associated with multiple radiochannels relative to at least one radio element; identifying the sensingelement's identity and determining if the sensory report has been taggedwith a code generated by a predetermined code generator; responsive tothe identifying and the determining, authenticating the sensory report;and correlating the sensory report from the sensing element with atleast one of one or more previous sensory reports from the sensingelement and one or more previous sensory reports received from anothersensing element to facilitate alleviating channel interference orcongestion.

In a related aspect, disclosed herein is an embodiment of an apparatusfor processing sensory reports of one or more sensing elements in adistributed COLD system. The claimed embodiment comprises one or more ofthe following features: a component configured to receive a sensoryreport from a sensing element operating in multiple RATs, the sensoryreport including sensory data associated with multiple radio channelsrelative to at least one radio element; a component configured toidentify the sensing element's identity and to determine if the sensoryreport has been tagged with a code generated by a predetermined codegenerator; a component configured to authenticate the sensory report;and a component configured to correlate the sensory report from thesensing element with at least one of one or more previous sensoryreports from the sensing element and one or more previous sensoryreports received from another sensing element. In one implementation,yet another embodiment of an apparatus for processing sensory reports ofone or more sensing elements disposed in a radio network is disclosed.In this configuration, the claimed embodiment comprises: a componentconfigured to receive a sensory report from a sensing element operatingin multiple radio access technologies, the sensory report includingsensory data associated with multiple radio channels relative to atleast one radio element; a component configured to identify the sensingelement's identity and to determine if the sensory report has beentagged with a code generated by a predetermined code generator; acomponent configured to authenticate the sensory report; and a componentconfigured to correlate the sensory report from the sensing element withat least one of one or more previous sensory reports from the sensingelement and one or more previous sensory reports received from anothersensing element to facilitate alleviating interference or congestion.

In a still further aspect, disclosed herein is an embodiment of a methodoperable with a wireless UE device in a radio communications environmentutilizing multiple radio access technologies. The claimed embodimentcomprises one or more of the following acts: scanning multiple radiofrequency spectra for detecting sensory data associated with multipleradio channels relative to at least one radio element in a sensing areaof the wireless UE device; determining if the wireless UE device is outof range of a wide area cellular network; responsive to the determining,establishing a short-range wireless communication path with anotherwireless UE device having a wide area cellular communication connection;and transmitting the sensory data to the another wireless UE device forreporting to a network element associated with the wide area cellularnetwork.

In a related aspect, disclosed herein is another embodiment of awireless UE device that comprises one or more of the following features:a processor configured to control at least one of a plurality ofsubsystems to scan multiple radio frequency spectra for detectingsensory data associated with multiple radio channels relative to atleast one radio element utilizing multiple radio access technologies ina sensing area of the wireless UE device; the processor furtherconfigured to control at least one of the plurality of subsystems todetermine if the wireless UE device is out of range of a wide areacellular network; the processor further configured to control at leastone of the plurality of subsystems to establish a short-range wirelesscommunication path with another wireless UE device having a wide areacellular communication connection; and the processor further configuredto control at least one of the plurality of subsystems to transmit thesensory data to the another wireless UE device for reporting to anetwork element associated with the wide area cellular network.

Embodiments of systems, methods, apparatuses and associated tangiblecomputer-readable media having instructions and tangible computerprogram products relating to dynamic coordination of radio resourcesusage and allocation in a radio network of the present patent disclosurewill now be described with reference to various examples of how theembodiments can be made and used. Like reference numerals are usedthroughout the description and several views of the drawings to indicatelike or corresponding parts to the extent feasible, wherein the variouselements may not necessarily be drawn to scale. Referring now to thedrawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1A, depicted therein is anexample radio network environment 100A wherein radio resources may bemanaged in accordance with an embodiment of the present patentapplication. It should be recognized that the radio network environment100A may be comprised of one or more diverse networks deployed byrespective operators using any known or heretofore unknown technologiesinvolving radio communications, for example, including but not limitedto wide area cellular networks, WiFi networks, Wi-MAX networks,television (TV) broadcast networks, satellite communications networks,and the like. Further, radio frequencies utilized in the diversetechnologies may comprise different licensed spectral bands, unlicensedspectral bands, shared or pooled radio frequencies, other lightlylicensed bands, fixed TV white space bands (e.g., unused televisionfrequencies between 54-698 MHz), and so on. Furthermore, the radiofrequencies operable within the radio network environment 100A may becompatible with Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks,Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) networks, IntegratedDigital Enhanced Networks (IDEN), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)networks, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) networks,any 2nd- 2.5- 3rd- or subsequent Generation networks, Long TermEvolution (LTE) networks (i.e., Enhanced UMTS Terrestrial Radio Accessor E-UTRA networks), networks capable of High Speed Downlink PacketAccess (HSDPA) or High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), or wirelessnetworks employing standards such as Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) standards, like IEEE 802.11a/b/g/nstandards or other related standards such as HiperLan standard, HiperLanII standard, Wi-MAX standard, OpenAir standard, and Bluetooth standard,as well as any mobile satellite communications technology such as GeoMobile Radio (GMR)-1, and other satellite-based technologies, e.g., GPS.Accordingly, the radio network environment 100A illustrated in FIG. 1Ais envisaged to be a comprehensive environment that can also includeother elements such as femto cells and pico cells (that extend coverageto indoor areas, for example), WiFi access points, relay nodes, and thelike.

By way of illustration, various coverage areas of the radio networkenvironment 100A are exemplified with one or more network infrastructureelements such as base stations that may be interconnected as well asconnected to other network components such as radio network controllers(RNCs), core networks, and other network nodes. Reference numerals 102-1through 102-5 refer to five example coverage areas each being served bya corresponding base station 104-1 through 104-5. Although the coverageareas 102-1 to 102-5 are shown as distinctly separate areas, they may beoverlapped. Also, whereas only one base station is illustrated withrespect to a coverage area, there may be additional base stationsoverlapping the same coverage area that operate in the same or differentradio access technologies (RATS). Again by example, base station 104-1serving the coverage area 102-1 is operable with a suitable radio accesstechnology, e.g., RAT-B. Likewise, base station 104-2 may also operatewith RAT-B, whereas base stations 104-3 through 104-5 may operate withRAT-A, RAT-D and RAT-C, respectively. Depending on the radio accesstechnology, a base station may be coupled to an RNC 106 for connectingwith an associated core network 108. Where an LTE-based networkimplementation is involved, the base station functionality as well asthe RNC functionality may be integrated in a single radio networkelement known as evolved Node B (eNB). Additionally, a base station maybe provided with peer-to-peer connectivity (e.g., a backhaul link) withother base stations, which may be employed in one embodiment forexchanging sensory data information as well as resource allocation andmanagement/usage messages, as will be described below.

Each coverage area may serve a number of mobile communications devices(which may also be somewhat interchangeably referred to as wireless userequipment (UE) devices, wireless terminals, mobile terminals, mobilestations, white-space devices, etcetera). In a more generalrepresentation, a wireless UE device may also comprise any portablecomputer (e.g., laptops, palmtops, or handheld computing devices)capable of wireless communication or any enhanced personal digitalassistant (PDA) device or integrated information appliance capable ofemail, video mail, Internet access, corporate data access, messaging,calendaring and scheduling, information management, and the like, thatmay be operable in one or more modes of operation. For example, a UEdevice may operate in the cellular telephony band frequencies as well aswireless Local Area Network (WLAN) bands, or possibly in the WLAN bandsalone. Further, other bands in which the UE device could operatewirelessly may comprise Wi-MAX bands, one or more satellite bands, TVwhite space bands, etc. As illustrated with respect to the coverageareas of the radio network environment 100A, reference numerals 110-1through 110-4 refer to the example wireless UE devices that may operatein different coverage areas. Further, some of the UE devices may beprovided with the capability to engage in inter-device communicationswhereby two devices (e.g., MCD 110-3A and MCD 110-3B in coverage area102-3) may exchange information in peer-to-peer radio links. In someinstances, one or more UE devices may communicate using asatellite-based system (e.g., communications satellite 111). As will bedescribed in additional detail below, one or more UE devices may also beconfigured in an embodiment to operate as a sensing element fordetecting various pieces of sensory data in one or more radio channelsof the radio network environment 100A.

Network 108 is illustrative of one or more core networks with which thevarious corresponding radio access networks (including, e.g., the basestations and eNB nodes, etc.) communicate for effectuating communicationprocesses as well as for providing interactivity with other networkdomains. For instance, one or more mobile switching centers (MSCs),short message service centers (SMSCs), home location/visited locationregisters, (e.g., HLR/VLR 118), authentication centers (e.g.,Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) node 120), and thelike may interoperate as part of or in conjunction with the network 108.In some embodiments, although not specifically shown in FIG. 1A, an IPMultimedia Subsystem (IMS) network and associated functional entities(e.g., Call Session Control Function (CSCF) nodes, network domainselection (NeDS) nodes, and other application servers) may also beinterfaced with the network 108. With respect to connectivity to publicswitched and IP service networks (e.g., the Internet) 114, appropriategateway nodes (e.g., a Gateway GPRS Support Node or GGSN 116) may alsobe provided in association with the network 108. Likewise,satellite-based radio communications infrastructure (e.g., satelliteground stations 112 that support and control uplink and downlinkcommunications with communications satellites 111) may also be suitablyinterfaced with the service network 114.

In accordance with the teachings of the present patent application,various elements of the radio network environment 100A may be used assensing elements to monitor, determine, detect or otherwise measureradio resource usage and interference conditions at one or moregeographic locations within a coverage area of region of a network. Eachelement of the network may act as a radio condition “sensor” (i.e., asensing element), which can include existing network elements withsensing capability (e.g., base stations) or standalone sensingelements/modules coupled to the existing network elements. Sensingelements may comprise base stations, mobile/nomadic devices, relays,femto cells, pico cells and other access points in an area of interestand may operate across single or multiple radio access technologies asan overlay sensor network to sense radio conditions in the environmentin order to help improve the efficiency and capacity of a mobilecommunications network. Accordingly, the sensors are configured tomeasure and report radio resource usage and interference conditions(i.e., sensory data) at various geographical locations and spectrumbands within a coverage area of a network. In one embodiment, thesensory data information may be reported to and consolidated at achannel occupancy and location database (COLD) 122 as shown in FIG. 1A,that can be updated dynamically to provide the elements of the networkwith a real-time view of the channel usage throughout the network. TheCOLD database 122 may therefore be suitably interfaced with the networkinfrastructure (e.g., via appropriate connections to the core network108, RAN elements such as base stations or eNBs, etc.). Additionally,the COLD database 122 may be coupled to the service network 114 forexchanging radio conditions information with other, possiblythird-party, external channel occupancy databases, e.g., ECOD 124, amongothers.

In another embodiment, the radio conditions information (i.e., sensorydata) may alternatively or additionally be stored in distributed COLDsat nodes throughout a radio network including, e.g., mobile devices, butnot limited thereto. The distributed COLDs share and exchangeinformation in order to disseminate sensing information throughout thenetwork. This configuration may be used to manage mobile communicationstraffic in the network or for device-to-device communications. One ofordinary skill will recognize that sensor network information may alsobe used to improve the overall efficiency of the network and itssensors. FIG. 1B depicts an example radio network environment 100B whereCOLD information may be deployed at one or more elements of the networkenvironment in a distributed architecture for purposes of the presentpatent application. It should be appreciated that the radio networkenvironment 100B of FIG. 1B is essentially similar to the radio networkenvironment 100A illustrated in FIG. 1A in its representation of theexemplary and comprehensive scope of a radio network environment.Accordingly, the description of FIG. 1A is equally applicable here,mutatis mutandis. However, in accordance with the alternative embodimentof the distributed COLD architecture, the radio network environment 100Bincludes one or more mobile devices having a COLD database andappropriate sensor/processor logic for effectuating the sensing,reporting and processing of the sensed COLD information in theirrespective micro radio environments (i.e., a small, localized area,hereinafter referred to as “sensing area”, within which a UE device'sradio transceiver circuitry can effectively sense the channel conditionsprevalent in that area, which is much smaller than a coverage area of abase station due to the UE device's lower operating power conditions).Additionally, a network-located filtering and COLD server functionality160 may be provided within or in association with the core networkinfrastructure 108 also. By way of illustration, UE device 110-3C in thecoverage area 102-3 of base station 104-3 in FIG. 1B is provided with alocal COLD processor/logic element 162. In similar fashion, UE device110-4 in the coverage area 102-5 and UE device 110-2 in the coveragearea of 102-2 are also provided with respective local COLDprocessor/logic functionalities 164, 168, for sensing, reporting, andprocessing the sensed local radio conditions. In addition, depending onthe enhanced functionalities of a UE device having the COLDprocessor/logic, the sensing UE device may be configured to manage itsown radio resource usage, or schedule a radio resource to another radioelement in its vicinity (e.g., another UE device), or generateappropriate messages to a network node adapted to schedule radioresources within a coverage area.

Regardless of where the sensory data is stored or warehoused, the COLDinformation may be dynamically updated from input messages received fromeach sensor of the sensor network with its specific location and usageparameters such as, e.g., interference levels and time of observation.As mentioned previously herein, such dynamically-updated information maybe combined with channel occupancy information from other externalchannel occupancy databases (ECODs) that may indicate relatively staticchannel availability in the spectral bands such as TV white spaces andother lightly licensed or pooled spectral resources. In a distributedarchitecture, there may be multiple COLD facilities and in someimplementations the COLD may be a distributed function among multiplenodes in the network including, or possibly exclusively, the mobileterminals in one specific implementation. The storage of sensoryinformation in the database, and functioning of the COLD server toprovide location/channel occupancy information is suited to, but notlimited to, applications of shared or pooled spectrum in which multiplesystems may utilize the same spectrum assignments involving bothlicensed and unlicensed spectrum channels. In cases where the spectrumis shared or pooled, there can be multiple interference sources, RATs,and networks operating in the same area and utilizing common radiospectrum resources. Accordingly, the dynamically-updated sensory data(e.g., the interference levels, signal to interference ratios (SIRs),signal to noise ratio (SNR) levels, inter-symbol interference (ISI)delays and associated location information) is useful in such scenariosfor facilitating and effectuating a more intelligent resource schedulingby schedulers that can be device-located, network-located, or both.Further, the sensory data information may also be useful to themanagement of device-to-device session coordination as mentionedpreviously herein, since such communication may not follow the cellularfrequency reuse pattern that is prevalent in radio communicationsnetworks. If significant inference is reported in a geographical area ona specific channel, the mobile network can identify and assign otherchannels that have less interference, or choose to schedule the sessionin another manner.

In addition, the COLD information can also be used manage and improveefficiency of the sensor network itself. For example, if multipledevices are located very near each other, the COLD sever can choose torequest information from a subset or only one of the devices to limitbattery use and signaling. As a result, those devices near other sensingelements such as base stations may not be requested to provide sensoryinformation. In some implementations where devices are configured toprovide sensory information, the COLD server functionality canspecifically signal certain mobile devices to not provide sensoryinformation, or to provide less (or more) information, or to providedecreased (or increased) frequency of the reporting of information inorder to better manage the sensory device resources.

In some embodiments, the COLD functionality may make use of informationabout channel activities in addition to that provided directly bysensing elements. For example, many of the RATs include in theiroperations and protocols feedback information that communicates thestate of the radio channel (e.g., channel state information feedback andchannel sounding measures). This information is generally directly usedby the radio apparatus to adapt the modulation and coding scheme (MCS)to the current channel condition. In accordance herewith, some sensoryelements (such as base stations and mobile devices) may extract thechannel condition information from these processes and make it availableto the COLD server(s), possibly together with other aspects such aslocation, time-of-day information, reliability/confidence levels and thegranularity of data. For example, local information available to localCOLD servers may include details of dynamic channel occupancy such astype of signal, users/devices, and duration and manner of usage (whichare illustrative of finer granularity), while high level COLD serversmay contain “coarse” information such as whether a channel is active andthe loading on that channel (which are illustrative of coarsegranularity). It should be appreciated that making such informationavailable through the COLD can improve the overall network channelutilization through better scheduling arrangements.

Using the radio network environments of FIGS. 1A and 1B as an example,UE device 110-3C may be configured to report its location and sensoryinformation about activity and interference on channels as may berequested by the COLD server (e.g., COLD server 122 of FIG. 1A or anynetwork-located server in a distributed environment of FIG. 1B). Forinstance, the device may be configured to report sensory informationautonomously, on request, or periodically or in the event of change(i.e., event-driven or event-triggered) or of a radio condition (e.g.,changing a spectrum etc.). In general, each device or element of thenetwork senses the channel directly related to it and reports to thebase station, a COLD server, or both. Accordingly, UE device 110-3C maysense interference and channel usage from nearby communication betweenUE device 110-3A and UE device 110-3B, and the base station or node(e.g., base station 104-3), as well as the signaling from the basestation 104-3 to those devices. That is, UE device 110-3C is configuredto monitor both the uplink channels (from the devices to the networknodes) as well as the downlink channels (from the network nodes to thedevices). Further, UE device 110-3C may also sense the device-to-devicecommunications between UE device 110-3A and UE device 110-3B, as well astransmissions from transmitters (and/or other mobile devices) in basestation coverage areas 102-1 and 102-4 because of their proximity to oroverlap with the sensory coverage of UE device 110-3C. Likewise, UEdevice 110-3C may also be provided with the capability to sense andreport information on channel usage by UE device 110-4 and base station104-5 which may belong to another network or a different radio accesstechnology. In some implementations, base stations from several networksmay be “consolidated” so that a sensing UE device may be able to sensetransmitters from several networks/technologies using a communicationschannel in a given area. Using the information of location andinterference feedback by UE device 110-3C and other sensing elements ofthe overlay sensor network, the COLD severer(s) can provide informationas to scheduling communications on various channels and managing thedevice-to-device communications.

Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the sensory data(e.g., channel occupancy/location data) may be stored and processed withrespect to various parameters of activity of different channels atdifferent locations. Such information, gathered through sensory reportsfrom sensory elements in a sensor network, may be processed with otherreports of sensory information, and may be stored in one or moredatabases, centralized, distributed, or a combination thereof. Suchinformation can be used for radio resource management (RRM) by providingknowledge of channel use and availability, as well as more detailedparameters regarding the use of the channel at a given location.Accordingly, the radio resource allocation for devices using one or moremobile communications networks can be benefited by implementing a systemas described herein that includes one or more of the following, interalia: (i) sensing at the device the activity of radio resources; (ii)storing the sensory information in a database local to the device; (iii)reporting the sensory information to other devices; (iv) receivingsensory and database information from other devices or nodes in thecommunications network; and (v) processing the information in thedatabase, together with received information to select and assign radioresources for the device for communications.

The foregoing teachings and certain aspects relating thereto may befurther exemplified within a particular type of network, e.g., anLTE-based network, as set forth immediately below. FIG. 2A depicts anexample LTE-based radio network 200A having interactivity with adatabase 214 of sensory data (e.g., channel occupancy and locationinformation) in accordance with an embodiment of the present patentapplication. An LTE-compliant UE device 202 is illustrative of one ormore mobile devices provided with a sensor processing logic module 204that facilitates sensory information gathering, reporting and processingwith respect to one or more RATs and radio frequency spectra accordingto one embodiment of the present patent application. An Evolved UTRAN206 having one or more eNB nodes (of which eNB 208 is an illustrativerepresentation) is operable to serve the UE device 202 with respect tothe air interface and RNC functionality. At a higher hierarchicalnetwork level is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network 210 coupled toE-UTRAN 206, which comprises network entities relating to mobilitymanagement, packet data network interfacing as well as interfacing tothe E-UTRAN. These functionalities are represented by entities such as aMobility Management Entity (MME) (which manages mobility, UE identity,and security parameters), a Serving Gateway (S-GW) (a node thatterminates the interface towards the RAN), and a Packet Data Network(PDN) Gateway (P-GW) (a node that terminates the interface towards thePDN), collectively illustrated as block 212 in the packet core 210. Asillustrated, a sensory database 214 may be disposed in a communicationrelationship with the elements in E-UTRAN 206, packet core 210, or both.Additionally, the sensory database 214 may also be provided with thecapability to engage in a communication relationship with UE device 202.

FIG. 2B depicts a portion 200B relating to the example network of FIG.2A in one aspect wherein additional details are illustrated. Theexemplary eNB node 208 includes appropriate hardware/software/firmwarefunctionality including, e.g., one or more processors, memory, radiotransceiver circuitry, etc. to process the necessary Layer-1 to Layer-3functions relative to a suitable communications protocol stack that maybe effectuated with the UE device on one side and with the EPC elementson the other side. Reference numeral 216 refers to the physical layer(PHY) functionality, reference numeral 218 refers to the Media AccessControl (MAC) layer functionality, and reference numeral 220 refers to aRadio Link Control (RLC) layer functionality. A Packet Data ConvergenceProtocol (PDCP) functionality 222 and a Radio Resource Control (RRC)functionality 224 overlay the lower levels of the communication protocolarchitecture. Also included in eNB 208 are a dynamic resource allocation(i.e., scheduling) module 226, a measurement, configuration andprovision module 228, a radio admission control module 230, a connectionmobility control module 232, a radio bearer (RB) control module 234 aswell as an inter-cell radio resource management (RRM) module 234 foreffectuating the necessary radio interface functions.

Representative EPC network element 212 of the network portion 200B iscoupled to eNB node 208 via S1 interface 237. As illustrated in FIG. 2B,the network element 212 includes MME functionality 242, S-GWfunctionality 238 as well as P-GW functionality 240 that interfaces withan IP network, e.g., the Internet 114. At least part of thehardware/software/firmware functionality of eNB node 208 may be enhancedor otherwise modified to effectuate COLD server processes as well assensory data processes. For example, sensing channel conditionsassociated with the eNB node's own radio frequencies as well as theother networks and technologies, generating sensory data requests toother sensing elements (UE devices, other base stations or eNB nodes(via an X2 interface, for example), relay nodes, femto cells, picocells, WiFi access points, etc.), receiving and processing sensory datainputs from other sensing elements, interfacing with the sensorydatabase 214 for sending reports thereto, and the like, may beeffectuated based on the implementation and service requirements. In oneembodiment, such sensor processing logic and COLD server functionalitymay be represented as a functional block 225 provided as part of eNBnode 208, which may be configured to send appropriate sensory datamessages or processed sensory data messages to the scheduler 226 inorder to control or otherwise adjust resource allocation processes aftertaking into account prevalent channel conditions, occupancy and usage.Where the sensory data is processed elsewhere in the network (e.g., atthe COLD server 214, at the EPC node 212 or at some other networkelement on a different hierarchical level) and is received at eNB 208via suitable messaging, such messaging may be relayed to the schedulerfunctionality 226 for resource allocation adjustment. Further, at leastpart of the EPC node 212 hardware/software/firmware functionality mayalso be modified or otherwise configured to effectuate suitable sensordata processing logic and interfacing, which may be provided as aseparate module 241 in some embodiments, whereby appropriate processessuch as COLD server processes, generating sensory data requests tosensing elements, receiving and processing sensory data inputs fromsensing elements, interfacing with the sensory database 214 forsending/receiving reports, and the like may be undertaken.

Both downlink and uplink communications in the LTE network portion 200Bmay take place in a number of well defined channels that operate atdifferent levels of the protocol stack that may be mapped from one levelto the next. As will be set forth below, some of these channels may besuitably modified to carry the sensory data information for purposes ofthe present patent disclosure. FIG. 2C depicts a diagram of a protocolarchitecture 200C relative to the example network of FIG. 2A from theperspective of the communication channels. A number of physical channelscarry information between the radio apparatus 250 and PHY layer 252 thatforms Layer-1 251 of the protocol architecture. With respect to downlinkcommunications, the physical channels comprise: (i) Physical BroadcastChannel (PBCH); (ii) Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH);(iii) Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH); (iv) Physical HybridARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH); (v) Physical Downlink Shared Channel(PDSCH); and (vi) Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH). With respect touplink communications, the physical channels comprise: (i) PhysicalUplink Control Channel (PUCCH); (ii) Physical Uplink Shared Channel(PUSCH); and (iii) Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH). A pluralityof Physical layer transport channels support information transfer fromPHY layer 252 to MAC and higher layers 254. For downlink communications,these channels are: (i) Broadcast Channel (BCH); (ii) Downlink SharedChannel (DL-SCH); (iii) Paging Channel (PCH); and (iv) Multicast Channel(MCH). For uplink communications, the transport channels are: (i) UplinkShared Channel (UL-SCH) and (ii) Random Access Channel (RACH). In turn,MAC layer 254 offers a plurality of logical channels to an RLC layer256, which comprise control channels (control-plane information) andtraffic channels (user-plane information) for uplink and downlinkcommunications. These control channels comprise: (i) Broadcast ControlChannel (BCCH); (ii) Paging Control Channel (PCCH); (iii) Common ControlChannel (CCCH); (iv) Multicast Control Channel (MCCH); (v) DedicatedControl Channel (DCCH). The traffic channels comprise: (i) DedicatedTraffic Channel (DTCH) and (ii) Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH). BothMAC layer 252 and RLC layer 256 form Layer-2 253 functionality of theprotocol architecture. At Layer-3 255 is RRC layer 258 that may alsocommunicate with PHY layer 252 for control and measurements relating tothe physical channels.

Information may be transmitted in the LTE network portion 200B in twotypes of radio frame structures: (i) Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)frame structure (also referred to as type 1 structure) and (ii) TimeDivision Duplex (TDD) frame structure (also referred to as type 2structure), which define the time-frequency radio resources, i.e., thebandwidth of the carrier (which is divided into several sub-bands orsubcarriers) and the time domain (which is divided into time slots) intoappropriate radio frames. Typically, a radio frame has a duration of 10ms, wherein a resource block (RB) spans 12 subcarriers over a slotduration of 0.5 ms. The subcarrier spacing is 15 kHz, thereby giving abandwidth of 180 kHz per RB. FIGS. 2D and 2E depict example FDD and TDDframe structures 200D and 200E, respectively, operable with the networkof FIG. 2A. Each radio frame of 10 ms is comprised of 20 time slots of0.5 ms, numbered from 0 to 19. For FDD operation, 10 subframes areavailable for downlink transmission and 10 subframes are available foruplink transmissions in each 10 ms interval. With respect to a TDDframe, special subframes such as Downlink Pilot Timeslot (DwPTS), GuardPeriod (GP) and Uplink Pilot Timeslot (UpPTS), each having configurablelengths may be interposed in between the subframes carrying information.

The transmitted signal in each slot may be described by a resource gridof subcarriers and symbols as illustrated in FIG. 2F wherein referencenumeral 200F is a graphical representation of an array of time-frequencyresources. Each element in the resource grid is called a resourceelement (RE) and is uniquely defined by an index pair (k,l) in a slot(where k and l are the indices in the frequency and time domain,respectively). An exemplary radio frame 260 is divided into 20 timeslots, with each time slot (e.g., time slot 262) comprising 7 symbols.The smallest time-frequency unit for transmission, i.e., a resourceelement, is thus defined as one symbol on one subcarrier. A group of 12contiguous subcarriers in frequency and one slot in time form a resourceblock (RB) 264, wherein reference numeral 266 is an illustrativeresource element. Data may be allocated to each user/equipment in unitsof RB and in each time slot, users (i.e., UEs) may be scheduled to oneor several subcarriers or sub-bands. In the uplink, when pluralsub-bands are scheduled for the same user, the plural sub-bands may beprovisioned to be consecutive. Users in adjacent and neighboring cellscan be allocated to the same sub-band in the same time slot, andtherefore can interfere with each other. Such conditions may thereforebe sensed and reported to COLD servers or processors for appropriatescheduling or rescheduling of radio resources in order to minimize, forexample, loss in signal strength, bit error rate (BER), block error rate(BLER), etc.

Referring now to FIG. 3, depicted therein is a block diagram of anexample wireless UE device 300 according to one embodiment of thepresent patent application. Wireless UE device 300 may be provided witha communication subsystem 304 that includes an antenna assembly 308(with one or more antennas), suitable transceiver circuits 306 operablewith one or more RATs, as well as additional hardware/softwarecomponents such as, e.g., signal processors and the like. Amicroprocessor 302 providing for the overall control of the device 300is operably coupled to the communication subsystem 304, which canoperate with various access technologies, operating bands/frequenciesand networks (for example, to effectuate multi-mode communications invoice, data, media, or any combination thereof). As will be apparent tothose skilled in the field of communications, the particular design ofthe communication subsystem/module 304 may be dependent upon thecommunications network(s) with which the device is intended to operate,e.g., as exemplified by infrastructure elements 399 and 397.

Microprocessor 302 also interfaces with additional device subsystemssuch as auxiliary input/output (I/O) 318, serial port 320, display 322,keyboard 324, speaker 326, microphone 328, random access memory (RAM)330, other communications facilities 332, which may include for examplea short-range communications subsystem, and any other device subsystemsgenerally labeled as reference numeral 333. Example additional devicesubsystems may include accelerometers, motion sensors, location sensors,temperature sensors, and the like. To support access as well asauthentication and key generation, a SIM/USIM interface 334 (alsogeneralized as a Removable User Identity Module (RUIM) interface) isalso provided in communication with the microprocessor 302 and a UICC331 having suitable SIM/USIM applications.

Operating system software and other system software may be embodied in apersistent storage module 335 (i.e., non-volatile storage subsystem)which may be implemented using Flash memory or another appropriatememory. In one implementation, persistent storage module 335 may besegregated into different areas, e.g., transport stack 345, storage areafor computer programs 336, as well as data storage regions such asdevice state 337, address book 339, other personal information manager(PIM) data 341, and a connect module manager including an IT policymodule as well as other data storage areas generally labeled asreference numeral 343. Additionally, the persistent memory may includeappropriate software/firmware 350 necessary to effectuate one or moreradio channel sensing operations, filtering, report generation andtransmission, generation of resource-allocation-related control messagesand other COLD-related processes, etc., in conjunction with one or moresubsystems set forth herein under control of the microprocessor 302 orspecialized circuitry. Powered components may receive power from anypower source (not shown in FIG. 3). The power source may be, forexample, a battery, but the power source may also include a connectionto power source external to wireless UE device 300, such as a charger.

The radio apparatus and associated resources of UE device 300 (i.e.,including but not limited to communication subsystem 304) may beextended, configured/reconfigured, or otherwise modified to enable thedevice to sense (or “sniff”) the radio environment without interruptionto any ongoing communications processes that may be occurring with thedevice's serving network station. Such functionality may include sensingduring idle times between transmissions to its serving network station(or other stations) and scheduling such transmissions to enable sensingat times needed to detect external signals. Accordingly, the radioapparatus of UE device 300 may sense channel activities and radioconditions in its own RATs as well as other RATs and frequency bands(e.g., TV white spaces, lightly-licensed frequencies, etc.). The radioapparatus as well as any controlling software/firmware may be extendedto effectuate measurement of the duration of the signals sensed in aparticular radio channel of the radio environment. In a furthervariation, the radio apparatus and the associated software/firmware maybe extended or configured to sense one or more channels substantially atthe same time in addition to the channel that the device may be using tocommunicate with its serving network station. Additionally, the radioapparatus and the associated software/firmware of the device may beextended or configured to include sensing of channels that may beoutside the normal set of channels used by the device to communicatewith its serving network station. For example, a device that wouldnormally communicate with its serving network station using FDD mode(where the device is normally equipped with a transmitter for onechannel in a band to send radio signals to the serving network station(i.e., uplink), and a receiver for another channel in another band forreceiving radio signals from the serving network station (i.e.,downlink)), the radio apparatus of the device may be extended to includea receiver functionality capable of receiving signals in the uplink bandso as to sense the uplink signals sent by other devices that may benearby. Similarly, if the device is using TDD mode for its radiocommunications, it may divide its time between uplink transmissions anddownlink reception. To facilitate additional sensing, the device mayalter the timing of its receiver to enable it to include receptionduring the uplink intervals in order to sense the transmissions of otherdevices.

In one arrangement, the sensing functionality of wireless UE device 300may comprise taking measurements of radio signals including but notlimited to the following, inter alia: (i) The signal strength or noiselevel over bandwidths for the expected signals in the channel(s) beingsensed. When there is no identifiable signal in the channel, the sensingprocess may report the “noise” strength in units such as dBm and thebandwidth. When the signal can be identified, the sensing process wouldreport the “signal” strength in units such as dBm and the bandwidth ofthe detected signal. (ii) The sensed information, when the signal in thechannel can be identified, may include the type of signal (e.g., theradio access technology). The sensing measurements could also includethe location of the sensing device, the identification of the stations(network or device) that may be communicating and the identification ofthe commercial network detected using the channel. (iii) For some radiosignal formats, the device may estimate the “loading” of the channel,for example, the fraction of the time that the channel is occupied byradio signals (e.g., IEEE 802.11 packets).

In another variation, UE device 300 may store the sensed information foris own current and future use. Alternatively or additionally, the devicemay also share the sensed information with other devices or networkstations when requested or by subscription (or some other distributionmechanism). Further, the device may receive (and store) sensedinformation from other devices or network stations (using the radio andnetwork communications links with the serving network station or otherdevices). This information may be useful to the device (and optionallyto other devices of network stations) in evaluating the radio conditionsand determining what radio services to use to communicate using thechannel currently or at some future time.

FIG. 4 is an example radio network scenario 400 where a sensing element402 (e.g., a mobile communications device or UE device) may beconfigured to sense radio resource conditions in both licensed andunlicensed spectra (i.e., bands, wavelengths or frequencies) accordingto an embodiment of the present patent application. Sensing element 402is provided with a radio sensing/reporting apparatus 404 that in oneembodiment may comprise one or more of the functionalities describedhereinabove. A portion of the radio environment that the sensing element302 is capable of sensing in its location or area (i.e., the sensoryregion) may be populated at any one time by one or more radio elementssuch as, e.g., other wireless UE devices operating in the same ordifferent RATs, base stations, and the like. By way of illustration,radio element 406 is exemplary of such a radio element in a non-limitingway that can communicate with one or more networks using licensed,unlicensed, lightly-licensed, or shared/pooled radio resources. Forexample, radio element 406 may interact with network 412 using licensedresources 408 for its downlink 410A and uplink 410B communications.Likewise, radio element 406 may also interact with network 418 usingnon-licensed resources 414 for both downlink 416A and uplink 416Bcommunications. Alternatively or additionally, radio element 406 may useappropriate radio resources for communicating with other devices (i.e.,peer communications). The radio sensing apparatus 404 of sensing element402 is configured to scan at least a portion of the RF spectrum to senseradio channels with respect to all such communications as well as anyunoccupied channels. As illustrated, reference numerals 420A and 420Brefer to the sensory signals received by sensing element 402 withrespect to the downlink and uplink channel usage of radio element 406 inlicensed communications with network 412. In similar fashion, referencenumerals 422A and 422B refer to the sensory signals received by sensingelement 402 relative to the downlink and uplink channel usage of radioelement 406 in unlicensed communications with network 418. Referencenumerals 424, 426 and 428 are illustrative of sensory signals in otherRF spectra received by the sensing apparatus 404 of sensing element 402that may be processed, reported, or otherwise managed for purposes ofthe present patent application.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are flowcharts of embodiments of a radio resourcemanagement, usage and allocation scheme of the present disclosure. Asset forth in block 502 of embodiment 500A, a sensing element scans an RFspectrum for sensing data associated with a particular radio channel(e.g., occupancy of the channel by a radio element, noise/interferencecharacteristics, reliability of the sensed data, etc.). As describedpreviously, the sensing element may be a wireless UE device, a basestation or eNB, a serving network node, a relay node, a femto cell, anaccess point, and the like. Based on the detected sensory data, a radioresource may be allocated, assigned or reassigned, or otherwise managedfor the sensing element's own use or of another radio element, which canbe another sensing element (block 504). Additionally or alternatively,the detected sensory data may be reported to other sensing elements(block 506). In another alternative or additional arrangement, thesensory data may be reported to an external database, e.g., a databaseor server associated with a wide area IP network such as the Internet(block 510). In a still further arrangement, the sensory database may bereported to a service network, e.g., a COLD server (block 508).

As illustrated in FIG. 5B, embodiment 500B involves receiving sensorydata from one or more sensing elements operating in one or more portionsof the RF spectrum (block 550). The received sensory data may beprocessed, e.g., calculation of interferences,correlation/comparison/combining of expected/projected channeloccupancies and durations thereof, application of thresholds on signalstrengths (for instance, pre-assigned thresholds), SIR/SNR measurements,error rates, as well as taking into account data granularity and datareliability indications, etc. (block 552). It should be appreciated that“processing” of sensory data may include these and other functionsdescribed below in additional detail may be performed in anycombination, order or sequence, for purposes of the present disclosure.Responsive to the processed sensory data, a control message (e.g., aresource allocation control message) may be sent to a network (forinstance, a resource scheduler operating at an eNB node) or to a UEdevice to effectuate allocation of a radio resource to at least oneradio element operating in the radio network environment (block 554).

FIG. 6A is a diagrammatic representation of a sensory informationacquisition process 600A according to one embodiment. A sensing element602 may be provided with the sensory information acquisitionfunctionality which may be implemented as a process executing on one ormore control processors of the sensing element (e.g., a UE device orother network elements). In one implementation, the sensing element 602may be instructed to sense and report sensory data pursuant toinstructions signaled from the network/COLD server (block 604). Aprocessing module 606 is operable to process the instructions, sensedradio conditions, or other observed events. A sensing scheduler 608 anda report scheduler 618 may be configured as sub-processes of the overallsensing element process 602 wherein the sensing scheduler 608 is mainlytasked with controlling a channel sensing process block 610. A dataaccumulator process 612 may locally store and process the sensed datathat may be used for report creation (block 614) based on control inputsfrom the report scheduler 618 as well as based on previous reportsobtained from storage 620. Newly created reports or updated reports fromprevious reports are provided to a transmitter process 622 that may beconfigured for sending the reports to specific locations based on, e.g.,inputs from the report scheduler 618. The reports may be locally stored(block 620) or sent to base stations, network nodes and/or one or moreCOLD servers 624 (generally referred to as network elements,cumulatively), possibly via a proxy element if the sensing element doesnot have the necessary connectivity (i.e., out of coverage area).

As set forth previously, a sensor element can be instructed to send backinformation via instructions signalled from the COLD server, which canbe part of the radio communications air interface such assensor-specific or cell broadcast transmissions, or can be achieved byapplication-layer signaling (i.e., “over-the-top” or OtT type signaling,e.g., that may utilize TCP/IP or forms of the Short Messaging Service(SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)). The sensor element canalso be instructed to report specific information in response to a querymessage from the COLD server. Further, a request may be configured toinitiate a series of report events from the sensor element.

In one embodiment, the sensor element can be configured to sense andreport radio environment information autonomously during some specificcondition, such as when using a channel with specific characteristics.For example, the sensor element can be configured to communicate sensoryinformation and location information to the COLD server when usingspectrum that is shared, pooled, or unlicensed. In another embodiment,the sensing element processes and in particular those associated withthe mobile devices may be instructed to report on the interference andusage in select shared channels only. The sensor element may recognizesuch a requirement of providing the information from a defaultconfiguration that is activated when the mobile device is operating inshared channels or by some signaling (such as broadcast messages, orSystem Information or Master Information Block (SIB/MIB) messages in LTEsystems, for example) from the radio communications network such as wheninstructed to use a particular carrier or band. This signaling may takethe form of OtT signaling, an indication in a broadcast message of thecell, or in sensor-specific information.

In an additional embodiment, the sensor element may be triggered tosense and report radio environment information based on a change inconditions. For example, a sensor element may be configured to recognizewhen the interference level of a communications channel exceeds somethreshold. In one implementation, this may be determined by measuringthe interference level directly and comparing to a threshold. In analternative embodiment, a ratio may be measured (e.g., SNR or SIR) andcompared to a threshold. A feedback signal may be triggered when theapplicable ratio crosses a given threshold. In yet another embodiment,the sensor element may be triggered when the communications channel isdegraded beyond a threshold based on one or more performance metricsincluding but not limited to supportable modulation and coding schemes(MCS), supportable data rate, received signal strength, etc. The sensingprocess of a sensor element may be configured to be triggered when oneor more of above conditions are satisfied such that the sensor elementmay communicate its sensory data reports to a COLD server. In addition,the sensor element may continue to sense the channel and report onlywhen the conditions change from the last sensing interval or period, oralternately, from the last transmitted report. The conditions forreporting can be configured in the sensor element by broadcast messagessignaled by the communications network or can be sent via OtT signalingby the COLD sever.

In some embodiments each sensory data report from the sensing elementcan contain information of the most recent sensory event (which may betriggered by the initiation of a report itself). In some additionalvariants of this implementation, the sensory data report may alsoinclude information accumulated since the last reporting event oraccumulated over some predetermined time window (e.g., a fixed timeperiod or a sliding time window). In a further variation, theinformation sensed and recorded between reports can be expressed and/orreported as average values over the period for a given metric. Othervariants of this implementation may include expressing the sensorinformation as a log of a series of values, statistical representationsof processes observed (including variance, cumulative and probabilitydensity distributions, etcetera). In yet another embodiment, the sensingcycles and reporting cycles may not be aligned. For example, the sensingmay occur opportunistically at irregular intervals (as may be scheduledby the sensing scheduler 608), while reporting can occur when determinedby a regular schedule (based on the reporting scheduler 618).

In some implementations, the mechanism for initiating sensing events maybe based on one or more of the following features. (i) When a channelmeasurement is made or becomes available: For example, channel qualityindication (CQI) feedback may be sent as part of regular operation in acellular system such as Wi-MAX, LTE etc. At every interval, oralternatively, every n^(th) interval as configured, a sensing operationmay be configured to coincide with the CQI measurements). (ii) Device isor becomes idle: In this embodiment, sensing is only performed atintervals when the device is not sending or receiving traffic. (iii)Change in radio resource allocation to different carrier, band, orlicensing/administrative region: For example, sensing operations may beconfigured to coincide with one or more of changing from GSM to a 3Gconnection, or 3G to IEEE 802.11a/b/g, or changing from 2.4 GHz band to5 GHz band in IEEE 802.11 operation). (iv) A reporting event occurring:In this implementation, a sensing event is initiated each time a reportevent occurs. For example, a report event may be scheduled every 10seconds. After each time a report is sent, the sensing event begins. Theduration of the sensing event and time needed for processing of theinformation may be configured to fit in the report interval. (v)Periodic time interval: For example, a sensing event is regularlyscheduled to occur every “x” seconds. In some variations, the sensingevents may only be completed if the device is a specified mode, forexample, an active mode.

In similar fashion, reporting events may be initiated based on one ormore of the following features. (i) Sensing event occurred: In thisimplementation, a report event is initiated at the end of a sensingevent. In further variations of this implementation, the report mayinclude information accumulated over multiple sensing events. (ii)Change in sensed data: In this variation a reporting event is initiatedwhen channel conditions change beyond a configured threshold asillustrated by examples set forth previously. (iii) Periodic timeinterval: For example, a reporting event is regularly scheduled to occurevery “y” seconds. In some implementations, the reporting events willonly be completed if the device is in a specified mode, for example, anactive mode. (iv) Device is idle: In this variation, reporting is onlyperformed at intervals when the device is not sending or receivingtraffic. (v) Transmitting other information to network or base station:In this aspect, reporting is initiated to be transmitted with otherinformation being sent via the uplink. In an additional variant, a timermay be introduced to specify an interval over which the device does notsend a report unless other information is sent on the uplink. If otherinformation is sent by the device on the uplink during the interval, thereport is sent with the other information and the timer is reset.

As mentioned previously herein, the information sensed and reported fromthe sensing element or device may include the location of the device,time of detection, range of spectrum and strength of the signals, amongothers. The time of detection may allow the COLD server to identifywhether the reports of interference from sensing elements belong to thesame interference burst or the same interference sources. In someimplementations the mobile device need not do sensing or detectionseparately from its normal operation. For example, the mobile device mayregularly conduct the detection of channel quality, and may simplyreport this parameter when queried by the COLD server. In oneembodiment, the sensing device may be able to, instructed to, and/orconfigured to identify the signal by type (e.g., noise, TV signal,802.11, CDMA-IS95, LTE, unidentifiable, etcetera) and/or network type/IDand include such information in the report to the COLD server. Aspointed out earlier, the sensing device may also identify the type ofRAT(s). Such an operation may be simplified for the device if thedetected signal is a RAT supported by the sensing device. The sensingdevice may therefore additionally identify the signal as originally fromits own radio communications network (i.e., the network to which the UEdevice is currently reporting) or a different radio communicationsnetwork. Other information may also be requested (and/or reported) inthe sensory data report including the bandwidth and/or center frequencyof the signals detected. For example, a 3G/2G device using Network A canbe instructed to report 2G/3G base stations sensed in the area, thenetwork(s) they are identified with, received signal strength indicator(RSSI) and the bands on which they are transmitting any broadcastingaccess information. The sensory data reports may also include detailsregarding broadcast information (available from MIB and/or SIB messagesin an LTE network implementation, for example, or similar broadcastchannels) such as active primary and secondary carriers. Further, thesensing device may be configured to report interference on bands thatexceed a threshold on energy level, or where the base station ortransmitter cannot be properly identified. In some cases to limit thevolume of reporting, some sensing devices may be configured to excludethe RAT or signal type information from the sensory reports. In othercases, only the interference level in the band(s) may be reported.Optionally, the bandwidth and nature of the time duration of theinterference (e.g. 1 ms burst, continuous, bursty with 50% duty cycle,etcetera) may also be reported depending on the sensing device'scapabilities and/or the inquiry messages from a COLD server.

In general a sensory data report may include one or more of thefollowing items, or any combination thereof: (i) device location; (ii)time stamp, or alternatively, report number; (iii) interference level;(iv) interference signal bandwidth; (v) band and/or channel (which maybe a band instructed in the report request); (vi) center frequency ofsignal; (vii) signal type (TV, noise, cellular, etcetera); (viii) mobilecommunications RAT(s); (ix) network/system identification; (x)transmitter station identification; (xi) duty cycle of signal; (xii)expected duration; (xiii) location of receivers (which may includemobile devices); (xiv) sensor identification or authentication; and thelike. Additionally, the sensing element may also sense and/or reportfurther parameters of the interference including: (i) FDD or TDDoperation; (ii) TDD UL/DL partition ratio and/or timing, etc.

In one aspect, the sensory data information may be gathered from sensingof activity of the signal where determining the sources or the type ofsignaling (including, e.g., modulation method, multi-user or single-usersources, etc.) at different times in the observed frame may indicate FDDor TDD operation, and if TDD, the partition ratio. In anotherembodiment, such information may be gathered at the sensing device byacquisition, detection or decoding of a broadcast channel (such as MIBand/or SIB's in LTE systems) or some other signaling that indicates thesystem parameters. In a further variation, the sensing element may beconfigured to estimate for how long the interference measured isexpected to be valid (i.e., valid duration). Such information can beuseful in processing reports by including only reports that are valid(i.e., within their valid duration), and decaying of the weightingfactor user in combining multiple reports conditional on the age of thereport. In one variation of the embodiment, the sensing element mayobserve the duration of channel occupancy over a longer window (whichmay be several frames). For example, the sensing element may estimatethat the traffic is due to bursty users by observation over a longerwindow, and indicate the valid duration of the interference report asrelatively short-term. In another variation, the sensing element infersthe valid duration of the information from the identification of thesource or source type. For example, in another location, a sensingelement may observe a type of traffic that is expected to be in uselonger-term such as a TV station.

In some additional embodiments, the sensing element report may alsoinclude location of receivers, where the sensing element may identifyreceivers through signaling or be aware of the receiver(s) from directcommunications or broadcast communication. If available, the report cancontain parameters (band, bandwidth, type, etc.) of the signal thereceiver is intended to receive. For example, if a reporting device isengaged in device-to-device communications, it may report details of theother device as well so that the database is aware of both transmitterand adjacent locations which are to be protected from interference. Insome embodiments, the sensor or sending element may also include its ownidentity so that the origin of the report may be traced and calibrated.For example, the sensing element may indicate its unique ID in thereport. In another embodiment, the sensor identification may be replacedby a method for authentication such as a certificate or pass code whichmay be represented as a sequence included in the message, usage in theencoding/encryption of the message, or alternatively in the scramblingof the message after encoding. In a variation of this last embodiment,the identification may contain both a portion associated with the deviceID, and another portion consisting of certificate or pass code. The twoportions may be sent as composite ID through concatenation, or othercombining methods. As will be set forth below in further detail, suchinformation from the sensing elements may be used at a COLD serverprocess for authentication, verification and possibly for filtering ofsensory data reports before updating any sensory database(s).

In another aspect, the sensory report itself may be expressed as indexedresults from a lookup table of possibilities. For example, theinterference levels can be quantized so that they can be expressed as anN-bit value. Other table indices can be used to represent the othercategory values. In some cases, in order to minimize the informationtransmitted, the fields transmitted may be expressed as a differential(or a “delta”) from the last report transmission. In some cases, onlythose fields that have changed may be included in the report. The reportcan also contain and index at the beginning of the report to indicatewhich fields are included in the report. In some implementations, areport of absolute values (i.e., non-differential) can be sentperiodically, or on-demand to reduce the effect of propagation of errorsdue to missed reports. By observing the report number, or tracking thearrival of expected periodic reports, the network and COLD server mayalso be able to determine when a report was missed.

In another implementation with respect to reporting, the value of one ofthe fields other than the report type index may be configured toindicate what is represented in the other fields of the report or howthe rest of the report is to be interpreted. For example, the report maycontain different fields, and even be different lengths for differentreport types. For a specific report type (e.g., 0001), the field “signaltype” may be presented with possible values as follows: 1: TV type 1; 2:TV type 2; 3: Mobile Cellular 802.16; 4: Mobile Cellular LTE; 5: MobileCellular IS-95; 6: Mobile Cellular HSDPA; 7: Mobile Cellular GSM; and 8:Unknown. The fields that comprise the rest of the report may be of asimilar or same configuration if values 1-7 are transmitted. However,different field configurations may be present in the report if theexample value “8” is indicated.

A sensory data report may also include a reliability indication withrespect to any piece of the sensed/reported data, e.g., the interferencevalue or other information. The reliability indication may be providedas a statistical measure of the confidence level that interference hasbeen correctly characterized by the reporting, or alternatively thesensing, mechanism(s). In one implementation, the reliability indicationor value may indicate the confidence that the RAT has been correctlyidentified. In another embodiment, the reliability value may provide anindication that the interference has been correctly identified as acommunications signal and not noise. In this embodiment, the reliabilityvalue may be a measurement of the interference level. In anotherembodiment, the reliability value may also indicate the error tolerancein the measurements (for example +/−10%, or location within +/−50meters, and the like). In yet another embodiment, the reliabilityindicator(s) included in the report may be based on the channelconditions under which the report was created, including but not limitedto: SNR/SIR, error rates, duration of measurement interval, etc., or theequipment and/or method used to make the measurement, or the confidenceof the results/measurements. In some embodiments, the database may alsouse the identity of the sensor as a factor to assess the reliability ofthe sensing report based on past reports, local phenomena around thatsensor, or other information.

In some embodiments of a radio network environment, it is possible thatnot all sensing devices are in contact with the communications network.Some may be able to participate in device-to-device communications andbe in range of another device that is connected to the network. In somecases, a device that is not connected to the network can send itssensory information to another device (that in and itself may or may nothave the sensing capability), which can then be forwarded to thecommunications network and the COLD sever (i.e., proxy reporting). FIG.6B is an arrangement illustrative of a sensory information reportingprocess by proxy according to one embodiment 600B of the present patentapplication. Mobile device 650A is illustrative of a device (e.g., a UEwith multi-RAT/multi-channel sensing capability) within a wide areacellular network having connectivity with network infrastructure 652 viaa communication path 666. Mobile device 650B is illustrative of asensing device without such wide area cellular connectivity. It shouldbe realized that either mobile device 650A or mobile device 650B, orboth, may be implemented as a wireless UE device 300 described in detailhereinabove. By way of illustration, as exemplary sensing devices, eachmobile device comprises respective sensing modules 656A, 656B; reportingmodules 658A, 658B; processing modules 660A, 660B; and local databasemodules 662A, 662B. Each device may also include respective antennaarrangements 654A and 654B with respect to wide area cellularcommunications or other radio communications. Additionally, each devicealso includes appropriate WiFi radio apparatus 664A and 664B whereby anad hoc or direct WiFi communication path 668 (e.g., via device-to-devicecommunications using short-range RF communication) may be establishedbetween the devices for sending the sensory data sensed by mobile device650B that does not have WAN radio access. Accordingly, mobile device650A acts as a “proxy device” for reporting the sensed data to thenetwork on behalf of mobile device 650B. Furthermore, where mobiledevice 650B is instructed to provide sensory and location informationvia signaling, such instructions/messages may be relayed to it via thedirectly connected device, i.e., mobile device 650A. In one embodiment,when one device (mobile device 650B in FIG. 6B) comes back into suitableWAN/network access range, its own sensing/reporting may take over andthe proxy service via WiFi communication with mobile device 650A may beterminated or otherwise superseded. However, as long as mobile device650A operates as a valid proxy agent for mobile device 650B (i.e.,relaying sensing information of mobile device 650B to and from thenetwork), it may aggregate its own sensing information with the sensorydata from mobile device 650B before communicating with the network.Likewise, mobile device 650B may also aggregate its own sensory datainto batch reports to be sent to mobile device 650A (i.e., batch modetransmission). Such transmissions may be performed responsive to, forexample, (i) receiving a request from mobile device 650A or from thenetwork (via device 650A) for the sensory data, (ii) detecting a changein a radio condition in the sensing area of mobile device 650A or 650B,(iii) mobile device 650B commencing operation in a shared radiofrequency band, (iv) mobile device 650B changing operation from oneradio frequency band to another radio frequency band, (v) passage of anidle period of a predetermined duration, and (vi) passage of apredetermined periodic time duration, and the like.

Based on the foregoing, an exemplary implementation of a method operablewith a wireless UE device that requires proxy reporting may be set forthas follows. As described previously, the UE device, although may nothave any coverage with respect to a wide area cellular network, iscapable of scanning multiple radio frequency spectra for detectingsensory data associated with multiple radio channels relative to atleast one radio element in within its sensing area. A determination maybe made if the wireless UE device is out of range of a wide areacellular network; and responsive to that determining, a short-rangewireless communication path may be established with another wireless UEdevice having a wide area cellular communication connection. Thereafter,the wireless UE device commences transmitting the sensory data to theother wireless UE device (i.e., proxy) for reporting to a networkelement associated with the wide area cellular network (e.g., a basestation, an eNB node or a COLD server). It should be realized that thesoftware and hardware resources of the wireless UE device (e.g.,processors, memory, I/O communications subsystems, etc.) may be adaptedas components configured to perform the foregoing acts in accordancewith overall processor control.

As pointed out previously, in some embodiments sensory information mayalso be reported from network element access points such as basestations, eNB nodes, relays, femto cells, sensing stations, etc. thatcommunicate with the radio communications network and the COLD serverthrough wireless and wired connections. For purposes of the presentpatent application, the term “base station” is used as a generalrepresentation for any of such “fixed” sensing elements. FIG. 7 is adiagrammatic representation of a sensory information acquisition process700 according to one embodiment wherein a network node 702 (e.g., a basestation) is operative as a sensing element. In some configurations ofthe embodiment, the base station may be queried to sense and/or providereports on radio conditions such as, e.g., channel usage andinterference. As illustrated, such querying may emanate from the networkor a COLD server (block 704). In other configurations of the embodiment,the base station process may also sense and/or provide scheduled reportsto the network or COLD server, and/or be configured in such way thatconditions of the channel and/or network may trigger a report or sensingevent. In an embodiment similar to the UE device sensing and reportingprocess described in the foregoing sections, the base station process702 can report on the channel occupancy and interference levels in oneor more bands or spectra. A processing module 706 is operable to processthe network/COLD instructions, sensed radio conditions, or otherobserved events. A sensing scheduler 708 and a report scheduler 718 maybe configured as sub-processes of the overall base station process 702wherein the sensing scheduler 708 may be tasked with controlling achannel sensing process block 710. A data accumulator process 712 maylocally store and process the sensed data that may be used for reportcreation (block 714) based on control inputs from the report scheduler718 as well as based on previous reports obtained from a storage 720.Newly created reports or updated reports from previous reports areprovided to a transmitter process 722 that may be configured for sendingthe reports to specific locations based on, e.g., inputs from the reportscheduler 718. The reports may be locally stored (block 720) or sent tonetwork locations (e.g., other base stations or network nodes taskedwith RRM functionalities, etc.) and/or one or more COLD servers, asexemplified in block 724.

As the base station may have more power and equipment resources, theradio apparatus and associated resources may be configured to senseseveral channels simultaneously or intermittently, and hence may be ableto provide at least the level of sensory and channel information asdescribed in the earlier sections relating to the UE devicesensing/reporting process. Because of additional processing power, thebase station may also be capable of better characterization of theinterference in each channel including the type of signal and RAT. Insome embodiments, base stations may be configured to detect and reportinformation on RATs that are not supported for access by the basestation.

In addition to advanced sensing of channel occupancy and interference,the base station process 702 may also be configured to report its ownchannel usage or RRM information to the network and/or COLD sever. Withthis information, the COLD server may be able to correlate the usageinformation with other sensing/interference reports in order to properlyidentify and/or confirm the identity of interference sources. In onevariation of this embodiment, the base station can report when adifferent carrier is used (such as, e.g., an LTE carrier). In anotherembodiment the base station may be configured to report changing thebandwidth of a carrier (such as, e.g., an LTE carrier). In a stillfurther embodiment, the base station or access point may be configuredto report changing to a different channel, or even different band (suchas, e.g., a WLAN AP changing from 2.4 GHz to a 5 GHz band and channel).In another embodiment, information can be reported to the COLD serverwherever and/or whenever the scheduling information is available. Forexample, the base station can report the assignment of persistentresources to/for a mobile user, or assignment of a frame, slot orcarrier as one used for multi-cast broadcast services (MBS). Suchinformation may contain information of future scheduling events anddetails of the interference expected with respect to any surroundingsystems.

In yet another aspect, a base station may be configured to requestinformation, or pass on a request for information to a device in itsserving region. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrative of a process 800wherein a network node (e.g., base station 802) passes requests forsensing to a UE device according to one embodiment of the present patentapplication. As illustrated, base station 802 includes one or moresub-processes, modules or functional blocks for effectuating the requesthandling/passing process 800. A MAC/PHY processing block 806 isoperative to process signals received from a UE device over control ordata channels such as, e.g., PUSCH, PUSCH or RACH channels in an LTEnetwork (block 804), as well as control signals provided by a MAC/PHYrequest signaling process block 816 which is operative to send requeststo a UE device over control/data channels such as, e.g., PDCCH/PDSCHchannels of an LTE network (block 818). The MAC/PHY processing block 806is configured to provide appropriate information to a report creationblock 808 which interfaces with a report database 812 as well as areport scheduler 814. In addition, the base station process 802 mayinclude a packet processing block 820 configured to process packetsreceived from the network, COLD server(s) or other base stations ordevices as well as a resource request processing block 826 that isconfigured to process and route radio resources requests from a UEdevice towards a network node, COLD server, or other RRM entity (asillustrated in block 810). Some of the foregoing functionalities are setforth in additional detail hereinbelow.

As shown in FIG. 8, the process of requesting reports from a UE devicemay be initiated in several different ways, e.g., from the networkand/or COLD server or base station or another device as exemplified inblock 813. The request may be initiated from the network or COLD serversusing, for example, OtT signaling. Such a request may be sent in apacket to the UE/mobile device after being scheduled by the basestation's RAT. In some embodiments, the request may be initiated fromthe network or COLD severs and be signalled to the base station togather sensory information. In some embodiments this process may includethe base station signaling of the UE device through either a controlchannel or an embedded data channel. For example, as mentioned abovewith respect to an LTE-type system, the request may be indicated by amodified type of physical downlink control channel (PDSCH) or sent in apacket over the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (block 822).Likewise, a resource request or a sensory report from the UE devicetowards the network or COLD server may be indicated via a modifiedchannel such as a PUSCH channel (block 824). In an alternativeembodiment, the base station itself may request the sensing and/orreporting from the UE mobile device and also send the request usingsuitable control and/or data channels as described above. In a furthervariation of this embodiment, the base station may initiate therequesting process in order to gain information for a sensing reporteither requested or scheduled by the network or COLD server.

In some embodiments, a UE device may be configured to report sensoryinformation directly to the base station 802. The sensory informationfrom the UE device is processed by the base station's MAC/PHY processingif received over the uplink control channel or passed in an uplinkpacket intended for the base station. As mentioned previously withrespect to an LTE-type system, the report may be indicated by a modifiedtype of physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), sent in a packet overthe physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or sent using packets overthe random access channels (RACH), as set forth in block 804. The basestation 802 can relay the raw sensory information from the UE devicedirectly to the network node or COLD server, or may include additionalinformation from other sensor reports (including reports generated bythe base station itself). In generating a report for the COLD serverfrom the UE device report(s), the base station 802 may process some ofthe information including correlating reports from one or more UEdevices, and possibly information from the sensing of the base stationitself, in order to determine a more reliable estimation of the channeloccupancy and interference data. The base station 802 may also use thereliability estimates from the sensory reports to properly weight thereports when processing (e.g., combining) the information. Suchprocesses may be exemplified in the report creation block 808. In analternative variation, the UE device may send its sensory report in oneor more packets directed towards the COLD server using OtT signaling. Inat least this configuration, the sensory reports from the UE device maybe in response to, but not limited to, a request sent via OtT signaling.

In another aspect, a base station may also be configured as a point ofexchange of radio resource allocation commands and radio resourcerequests from a COLD server and UE devices, respectively. FIG. 9 is adiagrammatic representation of a process 900 that illustrates exchangeof commands or messages at a base station 900 relative to radio resourceallocation in one embodiment. Similar to the base station processesdescribed above, base station 902 includes one or more sub-processes,modules or functional blocks for effectuating the overall exchangefunctionality set forth herein. A radio resource request routing block906 is operative analogous to the block 826 of FIG. 8 for receiving andprocessing/routing resource requests emanating from a UE device via OtTsignaling (e.g., network packets in uplink channels such as PUSCHchannels as illustrated in block 904). A MAC/PHY processing block 912 isoperative for processing resource requests emanating from the UE devicevia modified uplink channels (e.g., PUSCH, PUSCH or RACH channels asillustrated in block 910). A sending block 914 is operable responsive toa base station traffic scheduler 916 in conjunction with the output ofMAC/PHY processing block 912 for sending the processed radio resourcerequests to the network and/or COLD servers, as illustrativelyexemplified in block 908.

Radio resource availability messages from the network and COLD servers(as exemplified in block 918) are processed for scheduling of radioresource assignment (block 920), which interfaces with a MAC/PHYsignaling/scheduling block 922 for transmission of allocation messagesto the UE device. As exemplified in block 924, such allocation messagesmay be effectuated via downlink channels such as modified PDCCH andPDSCH channels to the UE device. Radio resource assignment messagingfrom the network and/or COLD servers (block 926) may be handled via twomechanisms. In one mechanism, the resource assignment messages may beprocessed by MAC/PHY signaling/scheduling block 922 for transmission tothe UE device as described above. Alternatively, the radio resourceassignment messages may be routed by a routing block 928 fortransmission to the UE device via OtT signaling (as network packets in adownlink channel such as a PDSCH channel, as exemplified in block 930).

It should be appreciated that although the base station 902 in oneembodiment may handle all of its radio resource management functionswithin a given channel, in some embodiments as described herein the COLDserver may be queried for channel suitability, or in a further variationof the embodiment, the COLD server itself may allocate radio resources.Accordingly, in some embodiments the COLD server may be configured todetermine available channels based on the sensory information received.In such an implementation, channel availability may be chosen based oncharacteristics such as, e.g., interfering beyond operating parameterswith respect to the operation or coverage of primary users, whether ornot certain channels are fully loaded, or otherwise have unacceptablelevels of interference or activity, and the like. Additionally, in someembodiments, the COLD server may further consider a “best” channel,e.g., a channel determined as having the least interference, or bestperformance, or lowest cost that is available.

As described elsewhere herein, requests for radio resource allocationsmay originate from a UE mobile device (through OtT signaling or throughPHY/MAC control and data channels), or from the base station. Suchrequests may be relayed to the COLD server, and depending on theconfiguration the COLD server may indicate one or more of: (i) asuggested resource assignment; (ii) available channels; (iii)approval/disapproval of requested resource assignment; (iv) assignmentof radio resources; (v) restrictions of radio resource assignment orusage. In one embodiment, the COLD server may be configured to indicateor otherwise suggest a resource assignment based on the request. Forinstance, the assignment may be based on the requirements specified inthe request, such as, e.g., one or more of RAT(s), bandwidth, and/orservice request. In an alternative embodiment, the COLD server canprovide a list of possible candidate channel assignments that satisfythe requirements set forth in the resource allocation request. In afurther variation, the COLD server may be configured to provide aresponse that approves or disapproves of the request for channel by a UEdevice. For example, the COLD server may disapprove of a channelassignment request if the channel is “unavailable” or expected to becomeunavailable for the duration of the requested channel occupancy. In astill further variation, the COLD server may assign a resourceassignment based on a request and its requirements, and thereafterupdate an assignment database so that future assignments to anotherdevice do not conflict with the assignments already made or currentlyactive. In another embodiment that may be used in conjunction with otherembodiments set forth herein, the COLD server may be configured toprovide a message indicating one or more restrictions as to the usage ofa particular radio channel. For example, the COLD server may providerestrictions with respect to the range, distance, or other geolocationof the use of the channel. Additionally, alternatively or optionally,the COLD server may also restrict certain transmit parameters of thetransmission. For example, in one variation the COLD server may restrictthe RAT that a device is to use in a particular channel. In anothervariation, the COLD server may restrict the maximum transmit power thedevice can use in the channel. In some embodiments where the resourceshave been assigned by the COLD server, the base station 902 maycommunicate the resource assignment to the UE device(s) via control/datasignaling channels, OtT signaling, and the like depending on theconfiguration, as described above. In other embodiments where theresponse from the COLD server did not include a radio resourceassignment (e.g. channel availability, etc.), the base station 902 maybe configured to process the information from the COLD server andcomplete the radio resource assignment as applicable.

FIG. 10A is a diagrammatic representation illustrative of exemplaryprocesses 1000 at an embodiment of a COLD server 1002 of the presentpatent application for effectuating one or more of the COLD serverfeatures described hereinabove. A comparison/correlation sub-process,module or functional block 1006 is operative in response to sensoryinputs and other reports from UE devices, base stations, access points,other network nodes, and the like. As an optional implementation,authentication block 1007 may be provided for evaluating credentialsand/or reliability of the sensed data and other received reports. Suchauthentication may be performed as part of or prior to comparing thedata and/or reports and performing appropriate correlations as may bewarranted. An analysis module or sub-process (block 1008) is providedfor analyzing and characterizing the processed data from thecomparison/correlation module 1006. An updating module or sub-process(block 1010) compares and updates data as may be needed, which is thenprovided to a database (block 1016). An entity responsible for RRM,scheduling, assignment and policy (block 1014) is operable responsive toRRM requests (as exemplified in block 1012) and the stored data 1016 forproviding suitable RRM recommendations, assignments, etc. to UE devices,base stations, other network nodes, as exemplified in block 1020.Additionally, the database 1016 of COLD server 1002 may be interfacedwith external databases such as those associated with a TV white spacesystem, the Internet, and the like, as exemplified in block 1018.

Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that the COLD server1002 in one embodiment may be configured to collect information fromvarious sensory elements of the network to determine regional/localchannel occupancy at any given time and to facilitate reducing orotherwise alleviating channel interference and/or congestion by way ofone or more appropriate RRM processes. The database 1016 may beconfigured to contain a map of information indicating the times andlocations of channel occupancies, among others. As described elsewherein the present disclosure, such information may be gathered from sourcesincluding network sensor element reports, network activity/channel usagereports, and external information and databases. As to the organizationof the database structure, there may be several alternatives that may becombined in different ways depending on implementation. In oneembodiment, the database may be organized by sources and receivers ofvarious types, including but not limited to UE devices, access points,microphones, base stations, etc. In this embodiment, each transmitter orreceiver known to the database is identified as an entry or record inthe database, wherein each entry may contain one or more of thefollowing fields: (i) location; (ii) transmit power; (iii) band/channelsof use; (v) signal type (TV, noise, RADAR, cellular RAT, etc.) for eachband/channel; (vi) network/system identification; (vii) transmitterstation identification; (viii) expected duration; (ix) reliability ofreported information; and the like. In another embodiment of thedatabase, the information may be organized based on entries/records forchannels and locations. As described previously, the sources/locationsof interference may be determined based on the sensory data reports andreporting range of the sensor elements of the network. In a furthervariation, the entries of the database contain one or more parametersincluding, for example: (i) channel; (ii) location; (iii) interferencelevel; (iv) signal type or RAT; (v) duty cycle; (vi) source; (vii)reliability of reported information; and the like. In yet anotherembodiment, a combination of transmitter/receiver databases and channeloccupancy databases can be used. Additionally, as mentioned previouslyherein, the database may be configured to interact with other databasesto gather information from external sources so that a local copy of theexternal information may be made available at the COLD server 1002.

Taking reference now to FIG. 10B, additional details with respect to theprocesses set forth in blocks 1006 and 1008 may be described. The COLDserver 1002 is operable to gather sensory information via methodsincluding sending of explicit requests, scheduled requests, or by sensorconfigurations that are triggered to sense and/or report upon a specificset of conditions. In one implementation, reports from multiple sensorsmay be gathered, which can be correlated so that the same signal is notmapped multiple times, and its full extent can be determined (e.g.,block 1052). Appropriate reliability weights may be applied before acorrelation analysis is performed. The process of correlation mayinvolve comparing the interference received at different times fromdifferent sensor reports. Commonalities in the reports can be seen asbelonging to the same source. Other information can also be extractedfor making such comparative analysis, which may include determining thesignal's source and coverage. For example, if two or more reportsidentify an interference burst from the same source (by comparing thetime of the interference and other characteristics of interference suchas duration, bandwidth, etcetera), the level of interference power canbe used to approximately determine the distance of the source from eachsensor. By comparing such data, and averaging out time variations, anapproximate location for the source can be estimated. The foregoingfunctionalities may be illustrated as blocks 1054 and 1056, for example.

In one arrangement, both “hard” combining and “soft” combining ofreports may be incorporated to improve reliability of detection (block1058). Also, in the case of determining an identity of an interferencesource, particularly bursts (e.g., when scanning for RADAR signals oroccasional channel usage), the reports of time can be used todistinguish such signals from noise. In one variant of this embodiment,the reports for multiple sensors may be compared to verify that a burstreceived was in fact a source and not spurious noise. In anothervariant, the reports may be “soft-combined” (which involves combiningweighted soft samples using a known technique) to improve the receptionof the received signal, and allow a higher probability of successfullyidentifying the signal as (i) other-than-noise, and (ii) the identity ofthe transmission source (e.g., TV, RADAR, cellular RAT, etcetera).Reports can also be processed in other ways including soft-combining ofsensory information to improve reliability through diversity, or usingmultiple reports to determine the location of interferer or the extentof its interference by determining interference strength contours.Directional information may also be useful in combining suchmeasurements to locate the source of the signals that have been sensed.For example, directional information obtained by the sensor may specifythe direction from which the signal was received. The COLD server 1002may make use of reliability information provided or inferred toappropriately weight different sensing reports when processing databaseupdates.

In some embodiments, during analysis of the information, the COLD server1002 may also determine that critical information is absent orunreliable and request additional reports from the reporting or othersensory devices. In this way, the COLD server 1002 may assess thecoverage and completeness of its channel occupancy and radio conditionsdatabase, and generate suitable queries to address any deficiencies. Forexample, in the process of determining the feasibility of channelassignment the COLD server 1002 can determine that information regardingthe interference due to a specific source is unknown, unreliable, oroutdated in a given region. The COLD server 1002 may request specificinformation from a nearby sensor node to address this deficiency. Inanother embodiment, the COLD server 1002 may also use the processedsensory information to trigger distribution of the information to othernodes that need it or may be affected by such information. Such nodesmay have, for example, subscribed to receive reports involving certainfrequency bands, levels of interference, signal types detected, or forcertain geographic regions. For instance, according to one or more ofthe embodiments described, the COLD server 1002 may identify: (i) alocation for a source of interference; and (ii) characteristicsregarding the transmission from that source. Such information may bedistributed to UE devices or nodes in the vicinity of the source.

The processed information may be provided to the analysis block 1008 asshown in FIGS. 10A and 10B. The overall functionalities of the analysisblock 1008 may include, inter alia, source triangulation using signalpower, angle of arrival, or both (block 1060), in addition to sourceidentification, source location as well as characterization of sourcetransmission (as exemplified by blocks 1062, 1063 and 1064). Processedreports on source activity and processed characterization ofinterference at the sensor (or other location) may be interfaced/updatedto existing databases, which may include comparison to and combiningwith existing entries. The foregoing functionalities are exemplified inblocks 1066, 1068 and 1070).

The COLD server 1002 may also make use of when the information wasrecorded and for how long it is expected to be valid (i.e., duration).Such information may be useful in processing reports in view ofcorrelated reports that were recorded at the same time from differentsources, and also to decay the relevance of the reports as the timesince the measurement increases conditional to the expected duration ofthe interference. For example, database information of interference thatwas due to short-term traffic may be considered with less reliability,or discarded after some time in comparison to newer reports. In general,the total information gathered and processed may be used to update thedatabase, whereupon such information may be queried by the variouselements of the network for purposes of radio resource managementthroughout the network.

In certain aspects, the COLD server database 1016 may be used as eithera complementary radio resource database or as an integral part of theRRM system of an existing mobile communications network. In otheraspects, the COLD server 1002 may act as a supervisor of the RRM systemsoperating in diverse locations and networks (e.g., with different RATsand having overlapping coverages). The COLD server 1002 may beconfigured to provide approval for resource requests by the RRM of thenetwork. As described previously, the COLD server 1002 in certainconfigurations may provide the radio resource assignments in response toa radio resource request, thus enabling the COLD server 1002 to act asthe radio resource manager. The COLD server 1002 may allocate channelsfor only a subset of the radio resources of the network; for example,the channels that enable shared spectrum pooling or it may makeassignments for a superset of channels affecting multiple diversesystems. In another arrangement, the COLD server 1002 may provide onlyinformation to the RRM functions of the network and suggest “clear”channels appropriate for use in response to requests for specific areasand c

The COLD server database 1016 may also be configured to report andpossibly resolve potential resource conflicts in the network (i.e.,policy manager functionality). For example, the database may receivereports of relatively higher levels of interference in a givenlocation/channel. With the information available at the database, theCOLD server 1002 can initiate one or more of the following actions in anon-limiting manner: (i) report radio resource conflict to the network,base station(s), or UE device(s); (ii) suggest alternate availablesources; (iii) suggest conflict resolution by re-assignment; (iv) assignalternate radio resources or other RRM assignment(s); (v) requestadditional sensory information from sensory element(s); (vi) suggestalternate multiplexing or time for transmission; (vii) issue arestriction for channel/location (which may also include a timerestriction); (viii) issue a usage policy or protocol to be followed ina given channel and location. In some embodiments, the COLD server 1002may also react in a preventative manner by using predictive methods. Forexample, the COLD server 1002 may extrapolate from historical activityto anticipate radio resource occupancy in a given location, time andchannel. If such activity may result in a conflict (e.g., excessinterference), the COLD server 1002 may issue instructions to the basestations or UE devices to use alternative channels or time slots. Inanother alternative, the COLD server may predict a channel conflict bymonitoring one or more moving transmitters or receivers, moving along apath where they may cause or experience unacceptable levels ofinterference. To assist in resolving such issues, the COLD server 1002may initiate one or more of the actions or measures set forthhereinabove in a preventative manner.

In some example implementations, the COLD server functionality may bedistributed across network nodes. The structure and function of adistributed COLD server arrangement are basically the same as describedin the foregoing sections concerning a centralized COLD server, e.g.,COLD server 1002 illustrated in FIG. 10. In a distributed COLDarrangement, appropriate communications protocols may be established toconnect the nodes to the distributed information database(s). Nodes mayalso query other nodes for updated information on channel occupancy andlocations in surrounding network locations. Accordingly, the distributeddatabases (which may be located in base stations or other network nodes)are configured to exchange information, reports and other sensory data.

It should be appreciated that in the example implementation illustratedin FIG. 1B, one or more UE devices are provided with COLD databases asdescribed in additional detail hereinabove with respect to the radionetwork environment 100B of FIG. 1B. In a further variation, the COLDserver 160 disposed in the network environment 100B of FIG. 1B may bereplaced by distributed COLD servers within the UE devices, e.g., UEdevice 110-3C, UE device 110-4, etc. As previously mentioned, it is notnecessary that all UE devices in the network have COLD serverfunctionality. In addition, the UE devices that do have the COLD serverfunctionality may not have the same capability of sensory, reportingand/or database functions. In order to ensure efficient operation ofdistributed database elements, certain methods and processes exemplifiedbelow may be employed with respect to a UE device's COLD serverfunctionality: (i) receive sensory reports from other network networksnodes or databases; (ii) process sensory reports from other elements,possibly including information from its own reports; (iii) communicatethe sensory information to other devices and network nodes; (iv) receiveprocessed information reports from another node; (v) store the receivedinformation from other devices and network nodes; (vi) store in adatabase information relating to channel occupancy and parameters andfor various locations (e.g., a location-based information map); (vii)process the sensory and stored database information; (viii)share/exchange information with other databases and nodes; (ix)authenticate sensory reports; (x) apply processed information for radioresource management; (xi) use sensory and database information inselecting device operation for the radio resources and radio accesstechnology formats.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic representation illustrative of exemplaryprocesses with respect to an embodiment of a distributed COLDarchitecture of the present patent application. As before, a distributedCOLD server process 1102, which may be executed at a UE device or othernode having the COLD functionality, may include one or moresub-processes, modules or functional blocks for effectuating the overalldistributed COLD architecture. Data sensed from channel scanning (asexemplified in block 1104) may be gathered and compared to other inputs(for correlation and comparison analysis, among others) as set forth inblock 1108. An optional authentication block 1110 may be provided forevaluating credentials and/or reliability of the sensed data, which alsoreceives reports and data from other devices, RAN(s), and otherdistributed COLD nodes and/or any external databases (as exemplified inblock 1106). An analysis and processing block 1112 may be provided foranalyzing and characterizing the information. It should be noted thatthe functionalities of process blocks 1110 and 1112 may be provided asoptional functions in certain distributed COLD server implementations.An updater block or sub-process 1114 is provided for comparing the newdata with the existing data so that the database may be updated asneeded. A local COLD database 1116 is operable for storing theprocessed/updated sensory data and reports, which may contain divisionsor segmentations based on characterization such as, e.g., “permanent”,“dynamic”, “authenticated”, etc. An RRM functionality 1118 is providedfor managing RAT/resource assignment, scheduling, policy management andnetwork communications as described previously. The local COLD database1116 may also interface with the RRM functionality 1118 for providingappropriate resource assignment messages, reports and sensory data, etc.to other devices, RAN(s), COLD servers as well as any external databases(as exemplified in block 1120). In general, those skilled in the artshould recognize that the processes set forth in blocks 1108 and 1112may largely encompass the functionalities of blocks 1006 and 1008described in detail above in reference to FIG. 10B. Additionally, theprocesses may be performed in any combination, order or sequence of thevarious sub-processes of the processes, including omission of somesub-processes.

As described for sensing elements in the embodiments in earlier sectionsof the present disclosure, the UE devices sense the channel occupancyand associated radio conditions, and generate reports on sensed data forprocessing at a network node or a COLD server. In some cases suchreports can also be processed at the UE devices, and only databaseupdates may be transmitted between the UE devices. In the case ofdistributed COLD server functionalities located at a plurality of UEdevices, the information may be transferred using one or more of theprocedures described herein such as device-to-device communications(WiFi ad hoc or WiFI direct mode communications), distribution ofsensory reports, or transmission of processed reports or databaseupdates. In some embodiments, the information transmitted to each mobilenode need not be the same as not all nodes require reports from alllocations or channels (or some may not require this service at all). Forexample, reports can be restricted to nodes with a specific proximityfrom the originator of the report. In some cases, reports can be sent tomobile nodes in response to a query or standing forwarding request forreports or a specified subset of the reports. Distribution of thereports may be effectuated through broadcast channels (for example, suchas SIB/MIB messages in LTE implementations) or mobile-specific messages(for example in LTE implementations, as a specific message carried bythe PDSCH channel to a UE device, or in general via MMS, SMS or IPdata).

In other embodiments, individual reports can be broadcast to UE deviceswhereby correlation and processing of the sensory reports can occur atthe each mobile node. FIG. 12 is an arrangement illustrative of anexample radio network scenario 1200 where multiple sensing elements(e.g., UE devices and network nodes) inter-operate in a distributed COLDenvironment. UE device 1204 is illustrative of a mobile sensing elementor node that is operable to receive sensory data reports and/or updatesfrom other nodes (mobile/nomadic nodes or fixed nodes) within thenetwork, including for example a base station or eNB node 1216 or otherUP devices 1222. The example UE device 1204 includes sensingfunctionality 1206, reporting functionality 1208, a database 1212 aswell as a processing entity 1210 that controls the overall COLD serverprocesses at the UE device 1204. Device-to-multi-device communications1220 may be employed to provide sensory reports and/or updates to otherdevices 1222 whereas uplink/downlink communications 1218 may be employedfor communicating sensory data reports and/or updates to the basestation 1216 or to beyond the range of device-to-device communications.In some variants of the foregoing embodiment, UE device 1204 mayaccumulate the reports, including sensing information of its own, andprocesses the cumulative information (in a manner similar to thatdescribed earlier for processing reports) in order to reliably determinethe channel occupancy at different locations, as well as additionalcharacteristics of the interference such as RAT type, bandwidth, power,etc. In a still further embodiment, another form of distribution ofreports and database information may be achieved through mobility. TheUE devices may roam in multiple geographical locations, and cantherefore be configured to provide information through previous reportsor database information on its previous locations. As described, theinformation can be distributed to the COLD server's new location throughdevice-to-device communications or communications with the network(which may be followed by broadcasting the messages to devices near thenetwork node).

In some embodiments, a device, network element or database may queryanother network element for information on upcoming channel use. This isa different type of report that allows other elements of the network tobe aware of channel occupancy in the future (i.e., predictiveinformation reporting). Examples of such information are those that canbe provided by any network node that has scheduling information (forinstance, a base station), or an element that is involved in ongoingcommunications. In some variants of the embodiment, the information canalso include predictive location information. For example, a sensingelement may be moving and report that it will be at a new location atsome time in the future. In a still further variation, the sensingelement may also report, for example, the planned use of a channel atsome future time or location. For example, the sensing element mayreport an upcoming persistent assignment made to it by the LTE network,where the assignment is periodically occurring for some duration. In yetanother embodiment, a UE device may query another UE device for suchinformation regarding future transmissions by the UE device (i.e., thequeried device) or its network. Such information can be processed andincluded in the databases as with other reports of real-time channelusage.

The use of predictive reports, however, may introduce the danger thatsome “rogue” or “unauthorized” nodes may also receive the sensoryreports, which may use the predictive information to either block thepredicted radio resource usage, or to divert the radio resources fortheir own purposes. To protect against this danger, in some embodimentsthe predictive information reports may have the identity oftransmitter/receiver disguised or otherwise scrambled in order toprevent or at least reduce malicious use of the sensory informationand/or radio resource assignment information. For example, the identitymay be hidden by means of the receiving database not including thesource address in further distribution of the information. In someembodiments, to protect the identity of the sender when transmitting thereport, the sender may use a local ID that is not public, for example, aRadio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) as assigned by radio accessnetwork (RAN), that is not traceable to the actual identity of thesender except by trusted nodes within the RAN.

In some embodiments of a distributed COLD architecture, the informationexchange between distributed COLD servers and sensing elements can bemanaged by using subscription service and distribution centers. In anexample implementation, both sensory reports and database updates may betransmitted and received using a subscription methodology. Such reportsand/or updates may originate from distributed sources, or can beconsolidated at a central or regional center(s). From these points, theinformation may be transmitted throughout the network to distributeddatabase locations. In some variants, distribution lists can be used inorder to send the information to the distributed COLD servers. Thedistribution lists can be subject to constraints of distance from thepoint of origin, or valid for only specific regions, frequency bands orlevels in a hierarchy of databases. Limiting the distribution of thesensory reports, processed information reports and/or updates in thismanner may have the advantage of reducing the volume of traffic in thenetwork, thereby preventing the network becoming overloaded withmessages being sent to places where they are not needed.

In some example implementations, the distribution list information canalso contain constraints on the type of information requested for eachdatabase. For example, a UE device database may not need to knowdynamically changing channel occupancy information from a far awaylocation, but may be interested in primary user information in itsvicinity. Location can be based on global position references (e.g., viaGPS) or related to the network cell ID. Moreover, in some exampleimplementations information classes can be introduced to facilitateefficient distribution of information. The class of information canrefer to the general class of the interference which relates to itssource and expected duration. Illustrative examples of possible classesare: (i) dynamic interference (referring to a single observed event atsome frequency and time; (ii) semi-static/primary user activity; (iii)static/regulatory; (vi) location/region area; (vii) frequency band; and(viii) RAT.

In an additional variation, distribution centers can be defined as“regional” where the information that is most relevant to users and RRMdatabase(s) within a reasonable proximity is provided. As an example, aregional distribution center may be located within or hardware-attachedto base stations or regional base station controllers. Furthermore,distribution of information may include both database updates as well assensory data reports. As not all information may be gathered by eachsensing element, the information content can differ greatly.Accordingly, additional classes of sensory information and classes ofdatabase updates can be defined based on the information content. Forexample, the following classes of information can be defined to identifyreports that contain only interference information and others thatcontain more detailed information: (i) basic: in-band interferencemeasurement only; (ii) identifiable: interference with knowledge of RATand can include broadcast parameters (if available); (iii) detailedscan: an interference scan of a frequency band with information ofpossibly several sources of interference, which may or may not beRAT-identifiable; (iv) predictive: detailed knowledge of interferenceevent that will occur at a future time.

In a still further variation, implementation reports and databaseupdates may be distributed through the network in a broadcast format.Additionally, the information may also originate or be filtered andre-distributed by central or distributed regional centers. DistributedCOLD servers may operate as regional centers to perform thefiltering/redistribution process, but other network elements such as,e.g., properly configured base stations, network hubs, GGSNs, etc. mayalso be involved in redistribution. In some embodiments, the reports anddatabase information may include descriptive headers so that receiverscan determine if the broadcast information is useful for them to decode.In this process, the receivers are informed of the meaning of variousheadings through broadcast information when subscribing to the service.The receivers may be configured to examine the headers on differentbroadcast message that arrive, and based on the examination may continueto decode and process the reports that pertain to the receivers' channelusage and/or location, depending on the configuration. Identifying theclass of information or class of sensory report(s) or update(s) areexamples of possible descriptive headers. In some implementations,information may be distributed to databases by both broadcast andsubscription methods.

With respect to RRM functionality, a UE device requesting a particularchannel for communication can use the information in its local COLDserver database in order to specify desired channel(s) and itsparameters. For example, the UE device may be configured to generate arequest for resources specifying the exact resources and/or otherparameters. In an example implementation, such a request can includespecifying a RAT, or parameters of RAT that are best suited to thechannel usage as known to the UE device through its own sensory datagathering as well as reports and/or database updates from otherdistributed nodes. For instance, the database may choose a RAT that hasthe flexibility to schedule the UE device communications in time andfrequency (i.e., the resource grid in an LTE network implementation)such that it avoids the transmission pattern of the existing channelusage. In such an arrangement, the UE device may be configured to adjustone or more transmission parameters to avoid interfering with anothercommunications channel, including but not limited to symbol shapingfilter roll-off, transmit power, spatial pre-coding vector/matrix,direction of transmission, polarization, etc.

In another implementation, a UE device may be configured to make use ofthe COLD server database information in negotiation for device-to-devicecommunication sessions. In the process of session set up, the UE devicescan exchange information from each respective COLD server database inorder to determine an appropriate channel for communications. It shouldbe appreciated that such information exchange may include predictiveinformation of upcoming transmissions. In one example variation, theinitiating device may be configured to suggest a possible channel forcommunication based on its database information. Further, the device mayalso include a database report to provide status information regardingthe channels visible to the initiating device. The terminating devicemay accept the channel assignment suggested, respond with a new channelsuggestion, or respond with database information of its own.Additionally, the initiating UE device may also choose or suggest a RAT,or optional parameters within a RAT that will be most suitable given theinformation known about the channel and its usage at its location, andthe other device's location. For example, a device may determine thatonly a narrowband of spectrum is available for communication, whereuponthe device may suggest communication over the narrowband channel using aRAT that is appropriate for that bandwidth.

In further embodiments with a distributed COLD architecture, thereliability of the sensory data reports and/or database updates may beassured by screening and authentication. As described previously,reports and updates may be transmitted from sensor nodes across thenetwork and distributed databases and exchanged through mechanismsincluding subscription and responses to queries. The authentication ofreports/updates can be controlled by indicating the origin of thereport/update in the message. In this manner, the recipient can chooseto accept reports/updates from only trusted sources. In anothervariation, the report/update may also be encrypted such that onlycertain recipients can correctly receive the report. Accordingly, anynumber of suitable cryptographic methodologies may be used to verify theauthenticity of exchanged sensory data reports and/or updates. Forexample, the report/update may be scrambled by a sequence known only tosubscribers such as a subscriber ID. In another variation, the knownsequence can be used in a method for addressing the report/update aswell. In a still further variation, multiple reports from differentsources can help confirm the validity of the report in some cases.

In a further embodiment, authenticating sensory data reports and/ordatabase updates at a database may be achieved by evaluatingcertificates that are included in the message and have been issued froma source trusted by both the sender and the receiver. Alternatively oradditionally, the identity of the originating device may be used forauthentication as well. The originating device can be identified byincluding in the report the device ID, MAC ID (RNTI or local ID) or theserial number of the device or some combination thereof. In a stillfurther variation, the reporting message can be tagged with a code froma specific codebook or code generator, based on a key exchange betweenthe device and the database. In a variant of this implementation, theauthentication key may be given to the device as part of an off-lineregistration process. For example, the key may be exchanged over asecure, wireline link so that the danger of wireless eavesdropping ofthe message is eliminated. In one example, the key is issued from atrusted source and the identifying tag for sensing messages may be basedon a perturbation of the device ID or serial number (e.g., a knownchanging perturbation).

In another embodiment, a sensing element may be required to answer aperiodic challenge question by the receiving database (i.e., achallenge-response protocol). In one related implementation, the sensingelement may be provided with answer(s) to challenge questions(s) from adatabase or database(s). A challenge from the receiving database may beissued to sensors issuing report(s) that must be answered and verified.The challenge and answer/response transaction confirms the identity ofthe source and sensing reports received. The database may be configuredto monitor validity of previous reports tagged to a given sensor byconfirming interference activity and issuing challenge questionsoccasionally to confirm identity. The database may use its estimate ofthe accuracy of the received reports to rate the reliability of thereports. Such reliability ratings may be used to weight the futurereports from the sensor in processing so that if the reports arehistorically inaccurate the sensor will be rated lower and its sensorreports will not be considered reliable or potentially not valid.

Based on the foregoing, an exemplary implementation of a method ofprocessing sensory reports of one or more sensing elements may bedescribed as part of a COLD server process in, e.g., in a distributedCOLD system as shown in FIG. 11. As described previously, a sensoryreport from a sensing element operating in multiple radio technologies(RATs) may be received at a node of the COLD system, wherein the sensoryreport includes sensory data associated with multiple radio channelsrelative to at least one radio element. The process may involveidentifying the sensing element's identity and determining if thesensory report has been tagged with a code generated by a predeterminedcode generator. Responsive to the identifying and the determining, theCOLD server process may proceed with authenticating the sensory reportand correlating the authenticated sensory report with at least one ofone or more previous sensory reports from the sensing element and one ormore previous sensory reports received from another sensing element. Itshould be realized that the software and hardware resources of the COLDsystem (e.g., processors, memory, I/O communications subsystems, etc.)may be adapted as components configured to perform the foregoing acts inaccordance with overall processor control.

In order to combat devices using a false identity and issuing a messagecontaining sensing reports and/or database updates sensors, issuingelements may be configured in one embodiment to monitor the sensingreports and/or database updates being transmitted in the network todetect if their identity is used in an unauthorized manner. Wherefraudulent use is detected, such use may be reported to the COLD serverdatabases of the distributed architecture for potential censure. In onearrangement, sensory reports may include a unique report number (forexample an incremental message number) that may be used by the receiverto detect duplicate messages, missing messages or false messages sent byrogue nodes. If the receiver receives a duplicate message with the samecontent, it is likely the result of a re-transmission within thenetwork. However, if the duplicate messages have different contents, itis likely that they are false reports.

In another embodiment, sensory data reports and/or updates can also befiltered from the network by screening nodes. Such nodes may be locatedat any point of the network, e.g., a base station, as well as co-locatedwith the mobile sensing elements (i.e., UE devices). Similar to theauthentication/verification functionalities set forth above, thescreening nodes may be configured to determine the authenticity of thereport(s) and/or updates and remove reports/updates that do not meet therequirements of a preconfigured verification process. In this manner,fraudulent or erroneous reports may be prevented from propagatingthrough the network and corrupting the databases. Reports/updates thatare deemed trustworthy can continue to circulate and be distributed toupdate the databases. With the presence of such filters fornon-authenticated reports, not all device-based or distributed databasesneed to possess complete or full-scale security systems forreport/update authentication. In one variation, a COLD sever may beconfigured to provide a screening function to filter unreliable reports.Accordingly, the distribution of false sensory information may belimited without the requirement for each receiving node or databaseupdate module to include an independent authentication process. As afurther variation, information distributed throughout the network canalso be filtered based on its time stamp and duration. As describedearlier in the present patent disclosure, sensory data reports caninclude time information as well as the duration for which theinformation is valid (e.g., static, 1 ms, 1 hour, and the like).Accordingly, any information that has expired or has become stale may beremoved from the distribution streams and storage.

It should be appreciated that the COLD server arrangements and processesset forth herein may be used for coordination among devices operating inmultiple mobile radio networks, wherein such devices are capable ofoperating with multiple networks and utilizing multiple RATs. Theiroperation, however, needs to be coordinated with other local devices andthe larger network base stations and networks that may also be using thesame radio resources and with overlapping coverage.

FIG. 13 is a diagrammatic representation illustrative of an exampleradio environment 1300 with multi-system mobile networks that mayinteroperate for purposes of radio resources management according to anembodiment of the present patent application. A plurality of sensingdevices or elements 1302-1 through 1302-N are operable to providesensory data 1312 to one or more filters/concentrators 1304-1 through1304-M. In accordance with the processes described in detail previously,the filters/concentrators provide filtered information to one or moreCOLD servers 1306-1 through 1306-K that may be arranged in a centralizedor distributed architecture. Depending on the configuration, there maybe inter-COLD requests 1316 for sensory data reports and/or updates. Aplurality of UE/mobile devices 1308-1 through 1308-L are configured toreceive suitable requests and information 1318 from COLD servers 1306-1to 1306-K. As described in earlier sections, COLD servers 1306-1 to1306-K are also operable to generate sense requests 1314 to one or moresensing devices via filters/concentrators 1304-1 to 1304-M for receivingthe filtered sensory reports and/or database updates (i.e., filteredinformation).

The sensing devices (e.g., UE devices, access points, base stations,etc.) sense conditions of the radio resources in their local area as setforth hereinabove. In one arrangement, each device may include aspectsof sensing device, filter/concentrator functionality, COLD serverfunctionality and the functionality of a mobile device. Mobile devicesmay perform sensing as part of their normal operation or they may berequested to perform sensing and provide sensory information to a COLDserver (as a result of receiving sense request messages from otherdevices). The sensed information is sent towards the COLD servers (ofwhich there may be one within the sensing device, and others in otherdevices). As discussed previously, the sense requests and the sensedinformation may be communicated among the devices using any of a numberof possible known formats including IP datagrams transported over thenetwork connections of the devices or messages embedded in the datasignaling channels of the radio access technology (e.g.,PUCCH/PUSCH/RACH channels in an LTE network implementation). In afurther variation, the sensing requests and information may bedistributed, for example, using “emails” or SMS or MMS communicationamong devices. Where some sensing devices are connected to the networkusing “wired” links, suitable IP datagram formats may be used forinformation transmission.

In accordance with the embodiments discussed previously, the sensedinformation may include, for multiple radio access technologies andnetworks, the occupancy (or non-occupancy) of channels, the signalstrength of signals received, the signal formats (i.e., RAT) received onchannels or identification of the devices or their network affiliation.The sensed information may be filtered by an intermediaryfilter/concentrator function (e.g., which may be distributed asfilter/concentrator nodes 1304-1 to 1304-M) described above. Thefilter/concentrator function may act as a regionalcollection/distribution point that filters and routes the sensedinformation to the appropriate COLD servers depending on the intendedrecipient devices. As discussed before, the filtering functionality maybe based, e.g., on geographic region, RAT, commercial network vendor,frequency band, time of occurrence or other attributes. Thefilter/concentrators 1304-1 to 1304-M may also perform functions such asremoving duplicate messages or redundant or expired sensed information.Additionally, the filter/concentrator function may be configured tocalculate the average of sensed parameters (or the peak, in onevariation) from several sensors and generate information summary reportsfor appropriate COLD Servers 1306-1 to 1306-K. The filter/concentratorfunction may also monitor the sensed information and detect the additionof new devices in the region (i.e., new devices or network facilitiesturned on or off, e.g., a new home Node B turned on or of), or a changein their configuration, and generate a report of these events for theappropriate COLD servers 1306-1 to 1306-M.

The filter/concentrator function may also consolidate sensed informationreports from multiple devices into combined information reports for theCOLD servers. This consolidation of multiple messages by the filters hasthe advantage of reducing the number of sensory messages flowing throughthe network and hence minimizing the traffic burden on the network. Insome implementations, the filter/concentrator function may be acomponent of the mobile network base station, base station controller oraccess point. In another implementation, the filter/concentrator may bea functionality co-located with a sensing element or COLD server or themobile device. In some cases, there may also be sensing devices thatfunction only to sense and report information about their local radioconditions. Those skilled in the art will recognize that thefilter/concentrator function and/or the COLD server function may beimplemented as computer applications (i.e., programs or code) associatedwith suitable information storage on general purpose computing devices(either as a computer platform configured to operate as a node on thenetwork or as part of a processor in a UE device).

In accordance with the embodiments discussed above, the distribution ofthe sensed and filtered information may be accomplished using a numberof methods. Further, several methods may also be used concurrently. Oneof the functions of the filter/concentrator entity is to distribute thesensed information among the appropriate devices and their COLD servers.The information may therefore be categorized, for example, according togeographic location, region, RAT, device type, commercial networkvendor, frequency band, etc. as described previously. Thefilter/concentrator function may then send the reports to COLD serversthat have requested information in a particular category (e.g., thosethat have “subscribed” to this category of information). COLD serversmay subscribe to more than one category of information, and in oneimplementation, a report of sensed information may be directed tomultiple devices. In this “subscribe/publish” distribution model, theCOLD servers subscribe with the filter/concentrator function indicatingtheir categories of interest. The filter/concentrator may be configuredto maintain the subscription information on an updated basis and forwardsensed information to the validly subscribed COLD servers.

In an additional variation, a COLD server may request from the sensingdevices, via the filter/concentrator function, sensed information of aparticular category (e.g., geographic region or frequency band). In FIG.13, such requests are illustrated as sense requests 1314. Upon receivinga sense request from a COLD server, the filter/concentrator function maythen request sensed information from the devices that have provided suchinformation previously. The new sensed information reports may be passedback to the requesting COLD server as well as to others that may havesubscribed to the particular category of information. In addition tosubscription lists, the filter/concentrator function may also make useof, for example, location information, to direct reports to appropriatedevices and their COLD servers. For instance, the filter/concentratormay store the geographic region, frequency band, RAT, or networkaffiliation for COLD servers and forward incoming sensed informationreports matching these categories to such COLD servers.

Whereas the COLD servers 1306-1 to 1306-K are operable to receive thefiltered information reports from the sensing devices (via thefilter/concentrators 1304-1 to 1304-M), they may also make use ofinformation, such as network topology, from a System InformationDatabase 1310. The filtered/sensed information provides the COLD withcurrent measurements (typically dynamically changing) about the activityaffecting radio resources in its area of interest. The SystemInformation Database 1310 (which may be co-located with the COLDserver(s) or may be a network resource) provides information about thesystem configuration, such as location of base stations, coverageregions and business arrangements with other radio resource users in thearea, which is largely static in most arrangements.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 13, the COLD server(s) may additionallyconsolidate the sensed and system information and provide response toinformation requests 1318 from the devices 1308-1 to 1308-L. The mobiledevices 1308-1 to 1308-L may, for example, request the COLD server(s) toprovide information about current and potential channel usage in theirradio frequency band and location area. Such information may be employedby the devices to determine the appropriate radio resources to use. Asdescribed previously, in some implementations the COLD server(s) mayinclude RRM functionality and therefore may be configured to provide therequesting device with recommended radio resource allocations. Forexample, if there are no regulatory limitations and the level ofinterference is sufficiently low, a COLD server may respond to a requestwith an available channel in response to an information request from adevice. In other situations, the COLD server may respond that radioresources are unavailable due to commercial or regulatory constraints,or that the sensed information indicates that radio resources areunavailable due to interference. In still further cases, the COLD servermay respond to the requesting device(s) with the current information ofradio resource conditions (e.g., levels of interference reported bysensors) for their location and the inquiring device may use thisinformation to guide its selection of resources.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, there can be more than one COLD server withina network, or among multiple networks. In terms of architecture, a COLDserver may be organized in a hierarchy of databases based on geographicregion, which may also be further categorized based on RAT(s), RFband(s) or the commercial arrangements of the network operators. In thecase of categorization based on geographic region, there may be regionsof adjacent or overlapping coverage. When a mobile device that is nearor within the overlapping/adjacent region requests information from oneof the COLD servers having overlap coverage, additional intelligence maybe provided or resolving such a request. For example, a COLD server,upon recognizing the location of the device in an area of adjacent oroverlapping coverage, may request information from neighboring COLDservers about the conditions in the overlapping/adjacent area. Such“cross-area-verification” of the data may enable the serving COLD serverto provide more accurate information about current radio resourceconditions in the area.

As pointed out previously, a COLD server may consolidate the sensed andsystem information in a number of ways that enable it to better respondto requests for information. For instance, consolidation of informationmay include categorizing the information based on commercial association(e.g., network operator), frequency band, access technology (e.g., GSM,UMTS, CDMA, LTE, etc.,) or geographic region. The COLD server may beconfigured to facilitate information requests that cross categoryboundaries. For example, sensed information from multiple RATS ornetwork operators may be requested and such requests may be servicedappropriately. The COLD server processes, discussed previously inreference to FIGS. 10 and 11, inter alia, are operable to determineavailable radio resources for a device based on local informationreceived and the reports from other appropriate sensors. For example,the determination of channel availability may include consideration of:(i) interference beyond regulated parameters within the operation orcoverage of primary users; (ii) the traffic channel loading; (iii) thechannel with the least interference or otherwise with acceptable levelsof interference or activity; (iv) the suitability of the radio accesstechnology for the desired service (e.g., voice, data, or videoservices); (v) commercial relationship(s) of the device user with thenetwork; (vi) compatibility of the channel with other concurrentservices; (vii) location restrictions for use of the channel; (viii)time constraints for use of the channel; (ix) suitability for servicesof the channel and associated radio access technology and network. Insome embodiments which may be used in conjunction with otherembodiments, the response messages from a COLD server may also includerestrictions as to the usage of channel. That is, a COLD server mayrestrict the range, distance, or other geolocation with respect to usingthe particular channel. As set forth previously, the COLD server mayalso restrict transmit parameters of the device's transmission withrespect to the requested channel (e.g., RAT, MCS, maximum transmitpower, etc.).

It should be recognized that in certain situations, some of the sensingdevices and the mobile devices of multi-network environment 1300 of FIG.13 may be the same. Accordingly, some devices may also provide sensedinformation in addition to requesting information from the COLD server.For example, when a mobile device is activated, it may inquire of theCOLD server to determine the local radio resource usage and systemconditions and then choose an appropriate radio resource allocation(e.g., radio access technology, subtending base station and channel).Once it is activated, the device may provide sensed information to theCOLD server in the network or to those in appropriate devices.

Referring back to FIG. 3 and in conjunction therewith, any of thesensing devices 1302-1 to 1302-N or mobile devices 1308-1 to 1308-L(shown in FIG. 13) may be realized as UE device 300 illustrated in FIG.3 in one exemplary embodiment. The sensing, filtering and COLD processesset forth above may be realized as executable code or programs 350operating on processor 302 in conjunction with other subsystems of thedevice 300. The sensing process interacts with the device'scommunications subsystem 304 and its associated radio transceivers andantennas for effectuating sensing of the radio conditions includingsignal strengths, signal timing, RAT(s), network identification,identification of devices transmitting signals and interference in thechannels of interest. The sensory information may be stored in RAM 330or Flash memory elements 335 as directed by the sensing and COLD process350. In addition, the communications subsystem 304 may be configured tomonitor the signaling between the communications network and devices todetermine the activity in the channels of interest to the device 300,which may also be stored in a suitable memory as directed by the sensingand COLD process 350. The Communications subsystem 304 may also receivemessages with sensory and database information from other devices andnodes in the communications network, which is also suitably stored inthe device. The information in the RAM or Flash memory elements isprocessed by the COLD process 350, which may involve formatting ofsensory and database information for the reporting to other devices andnodes in the network. Such reports may be transmitted via thecommunications subsystem 304. The processing may also includedetermining if channels are suitable for use by the UE device. Theselected channels may be communicated to communications subsystem 304which configures the radio transceiver circuitry 306 to operate on theselected channels using the appropriate band and radio accesstechnology.

Accordingly, in certain device embodiments, many of the elements of thesensing, filtering and COLD processes may be incorporated as a programcapability within aspects of the main processor of the device. Thecommunications subsystem, for example, may use the existing antennas andtransceivers in the UE device. The sensing apparatus may be incorporatedwithin existing sensing capabilities of the radio transceivers ofcommunications subsystem of the UE device. The storage of sensinginformation, sensing reports and COLD processing may be incorporatedwithin the memory and main processor apparatus of the mobile device.

It should be further appreciated that the COLD server arrangements andprocesses set forth hereinabove may also be used for coordination ofradio resources with respect to elements such as femto cells, picocells, home node B (hNB) elements, and the like. As mentioned before, afemto cell is essentially a small cellular base station, typicallydesigned for use in a home or small business, and connects to a serviceprovider's network via broadband (such as DSL or cable, for example).Current designs typically support 2 to 4 active mobile phones in aresidential setting, and 8 to 16 active mobile phones in enterprisesettings. A femto cell allows service providers to extend servicecoverage indoors, especially where access would otherwise be limited orunavailable. A pico cell is a wireless communication system typicallycovering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping malls,train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. In general, a picocell is analogous to a WiFi access point. Such elements providingspecialized coverage in a mobile communications network may be added orremoved from the network as usage and business conditions dictate, butthey require coordination with the radio resources being used by devicesthat may be nearby. Typically the femto cells and hNB nodes are of lowpower operation, and their use of radio resources (e.g., radio frequencychannel, time slot, spreading code or sub-carrier grouping) is confinedto a localized area. On the hand, their operation may have to becoordinated with other local femto cells and hNB nodes as well as thelarger network base stations that may also be using the same radioresources and with overlapping coverage. Where such elements aredeployed in a multi-network environment such as the environment 1300illustrated in FIG. 13, a femto/pico cell or hNB node may inquire of aCOLD server to determine local radio usage conditions and then choose anappropriate radio resource allocation or receive a suitable radioresource assignment from the COLD server as described above.

Various processes, structures, components and functions set forth abovein detail, associated with one or more network nodes, COLD servers orsensing devices, may be embodied in software, firmware, hardware, or inany combination thereof, and may accordingly comprise suitablecomputer-implemented methods or systems for purposes of the presentdisclosure. Where the processes are embodied in software, such softwaremay comprise program instructions that form a computer program product,instructions on a computer-accessible media, uploadable serviceapplication software, or software downloadable from a remote station,and the like. Further, where the processes, data structures, or both,are stored in computer accessible storage, such storage may includesemiconductor memory, internal and external computer storage media andencompasses, but is not limited to, nonvolatile media, volatile media,and transmission media. Nonvolatile media may include CD-ROMs, magnetictapes, PROMs, Flash memory, or optical media. Volatile media may includedynamic memory, caches, RAMs, etc. Transmission media may includecarrier waves or other signal-bearing media. As used herein, the phrase“computer-accessible medium” encompasses “computer-readable medium” aswell as “computer executable medium.”

It is believed that the operation and construction of the embodiments ofthe present patent application will be apparent from the DetailedDescription set forth above. While example embodiments have been shownand described, it should be readily understood that various changes andmodifications could be made therein without departing from the scope ofthe present disclosure as set forth in the following claims.

1. A method of processing sensory reports of one or more sensingelements in a radio network, said method comprising: receiving a sensoryreport from a sensing element operating in multiple radio accesstechnologies, said sensory report including sensory data associated withmultiple radio channels relative to at least one radio element;identifying said sensing element's identity and determining if saidsensory report has been tagged with a code generated by a predeterminedcode generator; responsive to said identifying and said determining,authenticating said sensory report; and correlating said sensory reportfrom said sensing element with at least one of one or more previoussensory reports from said sensing element and one or more previoussensory reports received from another sensing element to facilitatealleviating interference or congestion.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising uploading said correlated sensory report to at least one of alocal database and a remote database of a distributed channel occupancyand location database system associated with said radio network and anexternal database having channel occupancy data relating to anunlicensed spectrum.
 3. The method of claim 1 further comprisingtransmitting a control message to said sensing element, responsive atleast in part to said correlated sensory report, for effectuatingallocation of a radio resource to said sensing element.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 further comprising transmitting a control message to said atleast one radio element, responsive at least in part to said correlatedsensory report, for effectuating allocation of a radio resource to saidat least one radio element.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein saidsensing element's identity comprises at least one of a radio networktemporary identifier and a serial number.
 6. The method of claim 1further comprising determining that said code for tagging said sensoryreport was generated based on a known changing perturbation of saidsensing element's identity.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein saidsensory report includes data associated with a particular radio channelof said multiple radio channels, said data comprising at least one of: alocation of said at least one radio element operating in said particularradio channel, an interference level of said particular radio channel,an interference signal bandwidth, a center frequency of a radio signalsensed in said particular radio channel, an type identification of aradio signal sensed in said particular radio channel, a radio accesstechnology type associated with said particular radio channel, a networkidentifier associated with said particular radio channel, a transmitteridentifier associated with said particular radio channel, a duty cycleof a radio signal sensed in said particular radio channel, and anexpected duration of a radio signal sensed in said particular radiochannel.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said sensing element is atleast one of a wireless user equipment device, a base station, a servingnetwork node, a relay node, a femto cell, and an access point.
 9. Themethod of claim 1 wherein said at least one radio element comprises awireless user equipment device.
 10. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising issuing a periodic challenge to said sensing element andvalidating a response received from said sensing element responsive tosaid periodic challenge.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein said sensoryreport is received at a trusted node of said radio network, said trustednode being a node to which said sensing element has subscribed.
 12. Themethod of claim 1 wherein said sensory report has been scrambled by asubscriber identifier of said sensing element.
 13. The method of claim 1wherein said sensory report is received via a screening node associatedwith said radio network, said screening node comprising at least one ofa base station, an evolved node and a trusted node of said radionetwork.
 14. The method of claim 1 further comprising transmitting acontrol message, responsive at least in part to said correlated sensoryreport, to a network node, said control message for effectuatingallocation of a radio resource to at least one of said at least oneradio element and said sensing element.
 15. The method of claim 1wherein said correlating said sensory report is based on using at leastone of time stamp information associated with said one or more previoussensory reports from said sensing element and time stamp informationassociated with said one or more previous sensory reports from saidanother sensing element.
 16. An apparatus for processing sensory reportsof one or more sensing elements disposed in a radio network, saidapparatus comprising: a component configured to receive a sensory reportfrom a sensing element operating in multiple radio access technologies,said sensory report including sensory data associated with multipleradio channels relative to at least one radio element; a componentconfigured to identify said sensing element's identity and to determineif said sensory report has been tagged with a code generated by apredetermined code generator; a component configured to authenticatesaid sensory report; and a component configured to correlate saidsensory report from said sensing element with at least one of one ormore previous sensory reports from said sensing element and one or moreprevious sensory reports received from another sensing element tofacilitate alleviating interference or congestion.
 17. The apparatus ofclaim 16 further comprising a component configured to upload saidcorrelated sensory report to at least one of a local database and aremote database of a distributed channel occupancy and location databasesystem associated with said radio network and an external databasehaving channel occupancy data relating to an unlicensed spectrum. 18.The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a component configured togenerate a control message to said sensing element, responsive at leastin part to said correlated sensory report, said control message foreffectuating allocation of a radio resource to said sensing element. 19.The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a component configured togenerate a control message to said at least one radio element,responsive at least in part to said correlated sensory report, saidcontrol message for effectuating allocation of a radio resource to saidat least one radio element.
 20. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein saidsensing element's identity comprises at least one of a radio networktemporary identifier and a serial number.
 21. The apparatus of claim 16further comprising a component configured to determine that said codefor tagging said sensory report was generated based on a changingperturbation of said sensing element's identity.
 22. The apparatus ofclaim 16 wherein said sensory report includes data associated with aparticular radio channel of said multiple radio channels, said datacomprising at least one of: a location of said at least one radioelement operating in said particular radio channel, an interferencelevel of said particular radio channel, an interference signalbandwidth, a center frequency of a radio signal sensed in saidparticular radio channel, an type identification of a radio signalsensed in said particular radio channel, a radio access technology typeassociated with said particular radio channel, a network identifierassociated with said particular radio channel, a transmitter identifierassociated with said particular radio channel, a duty cycle of a radiosignal sensed in said particular radio channel, and an expected durationof a radio signal sensed in said particular radio channel.
 23. Theapparatus of claim 16 further comprising a component configured to issuea periodic challenge to said sensing element and to validate a responsereceived from said sensing element responsive to said periodicchallenge.
 24. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a componentconfigured to determine that said sensing element is a subscriber to atrusted node of said radio network.
 25. The apparatus of claim 16further comprising a component configured to determine that said sensoryreport has been scrambled by a subscriber identifier of said sensingelement.
 26. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a componentconfigured to determine that said sensory report is received from saidsensing element, wherein said sensing element is a mobile device thatoperates as a proxy agent on behalf of another mobile device.
 27. Theapparatus of claim 16 further comprising a component configured todetermine that said sensory report is received via a screening nodeassociated with said radio network, said screening node comprising atleast one of a base station, an evolved node and a trusted node of saidradio network.
 28. The apparatus of claim 21 further comprising acomponent configured to generate a control message, responsive at leastin part to said correlated sensory report, to a network node, saidcontrol message for effectuating allocation of a radio resource to atleast one of said at least one radio element and said sensing element.29. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said component configured tocorrelate said sensory report is further configured to correlate saidsensory report based on using time stamp information associated withsaid one or more previous sensory reports from said sensing element. 30.The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said component configured to correlatesaid sensory report is further configured to correlate said sensoryreport based on using time stamp information associated with said one ormore previous sensory reports from said another sensing element.